Worth Fighting For
by jadetarsier
Summary: LOTF-AU - Mara reluctantly agrees to find Luke, who has disappeared after the death of his wife, Callista. Luke and his son Benji temporarily join Mara's crew as Luke tries to figure out what's gone wrong in the galaxy and in his life, and what's really worth fighting for. Mara, Luke, Dankin, Benji (OC), Odonnl, Callista (ghost), Mirax, Corran, Faughn, Aves, Ghent, H'sishi, Pormfil
1. Prologue

**Timeframe:** LOTF-like AU - Canon is intact until Luke proposes to Mara in _VotF_. Mara says no and Luke and Mara go their separate ways. Shortly thereafter Luke reconnects with Callista and they get married. They have a son, Benji. Things develop more or less in line with canon. As the story begins, the galaxy is torn apart by war, Callista has just died, and Mara is running Karrde's company.

**Characters:** Mara, Luke, Dankin, Benji (OC), Odonnl, Callista (ghost), Mirax, Corran, Faughn, Aves, Ghent, H'sishi, Pormfil

**Genre:** Drama/Action novella

**Summary:** Mara reluctantly agrees to find Luke, who has disappeared after the death of his wife, Callista. Luke and his son Benji temporarily join Mara's crew as Luke tries to figure out what's gone wrong in the galaxy and in his life, and what's really worth fighting for.

**Notes:** This is something of a companion story to _Chasing Whisperkits_. They do not need to be read together, but I think of them as occurring in parallel universes. Any comments or constructive criticism are very much appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** Everything of course belongs to Lucasfilm, etc, etc. The only original character is Benji, who is slightly based on Ben Skywalker. The other characters all appear in the canon (Zahn mostly), although for some of them I take great liberties in fleshing them out and filling in the gaps in their histories.

**Word Count:** ~31,850

* * *

**Prologue**

Several days after Callista's death, with Luke seeming to have disappeared from the galaxy, Leia dreamed she could hear her sister-in-law's voice.

_Mara Jade._

What?

_She can find him._

How?

_If no one else can find him... _

_Mara can._

_She'll find him. _

_I know._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Mara Jade heard a knock on her door onboard the _Incident Alley _and looked up from her data pad. It was unusual for her crew to interrupt her when they knew she going over the next week's shipments, so she answered cautiously. "Who is it?"

"It's me," Dankin, her pilot, replied. "You have some visitors."

_Why in Hoth is he bringing visitors onboard the ship? _Mara wondered. His voice seemed calm enough and she could sense no danger through the Force.

"Oh, and something about whisperkits," Dankin added.

Mara rolled her eyes. Apparently, she was going to have to go over the proper use of all-clear words yet again. Mara stood up and walked towards the door, clicking the safety off her blaster as she went, just in case.

Mara opened the door to reveal two easily-recognized but quite unexpected individuals standing beside Dankin. She hoped her surprise didn't show as she greeted them. "Leia Organa Solo. Han Solo. What brings you here?"

"There's something we wanted to talk to you about. Is there somewhere we can sit down?" Leia asked.

"Sure," Mara replied slowly, studying Leia as she did so. She couldn't get a read on what this was all about, but she could think of nothing good that could come of the sudden appearance of high-ranking Republic officials on her ship.

"Don't you have work to be doing?" Mara asked Dankin, who was still eagerly standing by. Mara tore her gaze from the newcomers to glance at him. "_Now_?" she added with a slight edge to her voice when Dankin opened his mouth to object.

"Yes, Chief," Dankin replied obediently and disappeared down the corridor.

Mara closed the door to her room behind her and led the way to the strategy room. "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked automatically as they sat down, remembering Karrde's many lectures on hospitality.

"I'll take tea, if you have it," Leia replied.

"Nothing for me," Han said, sitting down with his arms crossed.

Mara slipped into the adjacent room to prepare the tea. As the water was heating she watched her guests through the one-way window. Han had a scowl so deep Mara wondered if his face was stuck that way and he seemed to be glaring at everything in the room all at once. Leia sat tall in her chair with her hands folded in her lap. _Always the diplomat, _Mara thought.

Although they were fixtures on the Holonet, Mara had scarcely seen Han or Leia in person since . . . she flinched inwardly. Nirauan. The whole bizarre and embarrassing experience came rushing back to her. Thank the Force they didn't bring Luke with them. Mara was happy to say she hadn't seen much of him since she rejected his proposal.

Mara paused for a moment as a new thought struck her. She'd tried very hard to stay out of the war, she'd trained herself to ignore any news of it except for purposes of planning shipments or selling information. But there was one bit of news she couldn't completely ignore despite her best efforts. Callista Skywalker, Luke's wife, had been killed.

_Was this related to Callista's death? _Mara wondered. Surely Han and Leia knew Mara didn't deal in information about the war. Besides, they had NRI and Mirax Terrik for that. So what did they want with her? Well, there was one way to find out. Mara collected two cups of tea and returned to the other room.

Mara settled into a chair across from the couple. Leia took a long, slow sip of tea before speaking. "We need a favor," she began.

Mara raised her eyebrows. And what made them think she had time to be doing them favors? She was already way behind schedule . . .

"We've lost all contact with Luke. No one's heard from him in days. Not since . . ." Leia broke off. She stared at her tea with a studiously neutral look on her face. But Mara could sense the anguish beneath the surface. Between the war, the loss of her sons, and now the death of one of her best friends, Mara supposed she shouldn't be surprised Leia was very near the breaking point. What did surprise Mara was that the emotion seemed to be contagious. She was beginning to feel unnerved, despite being in the sanctuary of her ship. Whatever brought Han and Leia here today, Mara was certain she wanted no part of it. But she could hardly kick them off now. _Sith it, Dankin. This is why you don't let strangers wander onto the ship._

Leia began again, her emotions pushed down once more. "We need you to find him."

Mara nearly choked on the tea she was sipping. "Excuse me? You want _me _to find _Luke_?"

If Leia was taken aback by Mara's reaction, she didn't show it. "You owe him this much," she said simply.

Mara's eyes narrowed and her voice took on an icy tone. "I don't owe Luke, or you"—Mara stared hard at Leia as she began, then turned her scowl to Han—"or _anyone_, anything. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

Leia continued to stare mildly at Mara. "Maybe you don't owe Luke anything. Maybe you just do it because it's the right thing to do."

"I don't have time for this." Mara stood up and shoved her chair backwards. They'd just passed the limit of her hospitality.

"Or do it for Benji. He lost everything," Leia continued softly. As Mara came around the table and grabbed Leia's arm to haul her to her feet, Leia looked meaningfully into her eyes. "You know what's that like, don't you?"

To her great chagrin, Mara hesitated for just a moment.

"He'd do it for you," Han growled from beside Leia.

Mara scowled as she bit back a retort. _Yeah, I bet he would_, she thought. _He'd be only too eager to come rescue me from my self-pity. _Her grip on Leia's arm relaxed as she thought about how much she didn't want to see Luke again. _He'd teach me the ways of the Jedi and drag me right into the middle of this Maker-forsaken war that's destroyed every life it's touched, including his._

Leia stood and put her hands on Mara's shoulders as she continued. "I need to know my brother will be okay." Leia eyes were filled with despair and about to spill over with tears. "_Please_." There was so much desperation dripping off the final word Mara could almost feel it filling up the room, about to drown them all.

_I don't owe him anything, _she thought bitterly.

"Okay," she heard herself say.

Mara immediately wanted to take it back, to tell Leia she wasn't a kriffin' retriever kuppy with nothing better to do than track down her worthless brother, but the relief that suddenly filled the room was so palpable Mara choked on the words.

"Thank you," Leia said. "Thank you." She moved toward Mara, and for a moment Mara was afraid she would try to hug her. Suddenly Leia turned to the side, her eyes squeezed shut, her neutral mask cracking. Han put his arm around his wife and pulled her close. He nodded gravely to Mara with a _Don't screw this up _look on his face as he guided Leia out of the room and down the corridor. Vaguely, Mara hoped they made it off her ship before Leia lost it completely.

For a long time after they left Mara stared at the empty doorway . Had that really just happened? Had she really just agreed to track down _Luke Skywalker_? What was she going to do? Even if she'd wanted to, she didn't have a clue where Luke might be.

"Hey, Mara." Dankin startled her from her thoughts. "We're loaded up and ready to go."

"Change of plans," she said. "We're going to make another stop first."

"Oh, okay," Dankin replied agreeably. "Where?"

Mara sighed deeply. Too late to turn back now. "I'm not sure yet. I need you to pull up the last known location of Luke Skywalker."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Luke Skywalker's life was over. Callista, his beautiful wife, was dead.

Luke had been wandering around some planet for several days. He wasn't sure where he was or even how he'd gotten there. All he knew was he wouldn't find Callista here, he wouldn't find her anywhere.

He'd been nursing a drink, he wasn't sure what, for literally hours. The dingy bar had closed long ago. They had told him to leave several times but he pretended he didn't hear and eventually they had just cleaned up around him. He'd buried his head in his arms on the table, but he could still hear a few workers rustling around in the back. He hoped they wouldn't make him leave before they went home for the night.

_Luke Skywalker_, a voice interrupted his thoughts. Luke slowly sat up and looked around. He didn't see anyone so he put his head back down. _Luke Skywalker, come here. Outside the bar. Now._

Fearing the voice would continue to harass him until he complied, Luke slowly stood up and headed for the door. The floor lurched beneath him and he struggled to maintain his footing. After bumping into a few tables and chairs he made it to the door. The door was lighter than he expected and he stumbled into the cool night air.

"Stang, Skywalker. Are you drunk?" the voice asked again, but this time it wasn't just in his head.

Luke turned to face the voice. He knew immediately that he recognized her, but couldn't think of where he knew her from. And he couldn't pause to try to recall her name because his sudden turn had sent the world spinning around him. He shifted his weight to keep his balance. The woman muttered a curse under her breath and grabbed him by the arm. "I've been looking all over this Force-forsaken planet for you and here I find you drunk in some lousy bar. I guess it's a good thing I left my ship on the other side of the planet, the drive will give you some time to sober up."

"She's dead," Luke said.

"Yeah, I know." The woman pushed Luke into the passenger seat of a landspeeder. It occurred to him that maybe he should resist, but for some reason he felt safe with her. Or maybe it was just that he no longer cared what happened to him. "And you know how I know for sure you're drunk?" she continued as she buckled him in. "You didn't give me a lecture about how it should have taken me two seconds to find you, if I only knew the ways of the Force as well as you." Her red-gold hair brushed his face as she worked and it reminded him of Callista's soft hair falling across his cheek as she lay beside him.

"She's dead. _She's dead_," was all Luke could manage to say.

The woman climbed into the driver's seat and studied Luke for a moment. "It's been a while, but I think I remember how to do this." She put her hands to Luke's forehead.

"Please think of something else to say before we get to your son," she added as the world melted away.

* * *

"Wake up, Luke." The familiar voice again.

"Wow, a totally toasted Jedi Master. I'm sorry I missed it." A new voice, a male human with an accent Luke couldn't quite place.

"Uh, he's not waking up. Are you sure you did it right? You didn't kill him, did you?" Another male voice, this one with a Corellian accent.

"If only Jedi Masters were so easy to kill—" she began.

"—you'd have killed him back when we had him on Mrykr?" her first companion finished.

"Ah, Myrkr. Those were the days weren't they?" the Corellian added.

"Why don't you get the engines started? I'm ready to get off this rock." There was more than a little annoyance in the voice, which Luke had finally placed. Mara Jade. The Force-sensitive smuggler who had once wanted nothing more in the galaxy than to kill him. And who would never admit she had almost said yes to him on Nirauan.

"Sure, Chief." The two men left.

Once her companions were out of earshot, Mara spoke again. "You always were a good faker."

Luke slowly opened his eyes. Mara was kneeling beside him, waiting for a response. But there was nothing for him to say. Nothing he could say would bring Callista back.

"Perhaps you could ask if I know where your son is," Mara suggested.

_Benji! _Luke had been so consumed with his own pain over Callista's death, he hadn't even thought about what his son must be going through. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's okay. Seems to be coping a lot better than you, actually. Not that you set the bar real high. He's waiting on my ship—"

"—Dad!" Benji interrupted as he sprinted across the landing field and slid to his knees beside Luke. Close on his heels was one of the men who had been with Mara when Luke woke up.

"Sorry, Mara," the man said to Mara as she stood up.

"Skip it," she replied. "I'll let you two catch up," Mara added to Luke. "We roll out in ten minutes. Be onboard if you're coming with us."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Benji had shown Luke to their room a few hours ago and now was asleep in his bed. Luke was sitting in a chair in the corner trying to make sense of his world. His immediate bearings were easy. He was on a starship that seemed to be under the command of Mara Jade, who he assumed was still an information broker/smuggler.

He couldn't remember where he was immediately before this or what he was supposed to be doing there. Whatever it was, it must not have been very important. Of course, nothing seemed important anymore. Not since . . .

Maybe he should start there. Where was he and what was he doing when it happened? He was fighting, he thought he remembered that. He fell to his knees in the middle of battle. He'd almost been killed, but obviously he'd survived. He thought maybe he killed his opponent. But he couldn't remember who it was or even if he should have done that.

And how long ago was that? A week? A month? He wasn't sure.

Now for the really hard questions. Where was Callista? Why wasn't he with her? Where was Benji? Why weren't they together? There was a simple answer of course. Because of the war. He thought hard, but he really couldn't think of what the war was about. Who was fighting whom? Which side was he on?

He felt like he'd been fighting his entire life. One battle after another. So much so that it had all run together in his mind, into one long battle against a single opponent with a million different faces.

Luke shook his head in frustration. He was trying to clear his mind again when he heard a soft tap on the door.

"Yes?" Luke responded, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't wake Benji.

"Are you hungry?" Luke recognized the voice as belonging to the man from the landing field with the unidentified accent. "We're just about to serve dinner for the crew. You're welcome to join us."

Luke's stomach growled at the mention of food; he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. Nevertheless, he was about to decline so he could stay with Benji and continue sorting through his thoughts, when Benji leapt to his feet.

"Of course, Dankin. We'll be right there," Benji exclaimed. "Aren't you hungry, Dad? The food's not great, but I'm starving."

Luke had forgotten that Benji had been travelling on this ship for some time before Luke arrived. "I am hungry," Luke replied. "Just let me splash some water on my face before we go." Luke figured he must look terrible, he hadn't changed his clothes in days and who knew when he'd bathed last. He winced slightly as he looked at himself in the mirror. _Some Grand Master I am. I look like a rancor's chew toy_, he thought. He winced again when he realized he probably looked even worse when Mara had first picked him up.

"Come on, Dad," Benji whined as Luke patted his face dry. "I don't want to miss anything."

Taking a final look and deciding his hair was a lost cause until he could get a proper shower, Luke stepped back into the bedroom. Benji was already a few steps down the corridor and Luke followed quickly.

They arrived in the mess room just as a Togorian was setting plates on the long narrow table. Benji took a seat beside Dankin and Luke sat on Benji's other side. On the far end was another male human and across the table was a male Kerestian and the female Togorian.

"This is Dankin," Benji said, gesturing to the man beside him. "And Odonnl," Benji indicated the man on the end, "And Pormfil and H'sishi," pointing to the Kerestian and the Togorian, respectively.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Luke."

"We've actually already met," Dankin replied. "A couple of times."

Luke didn't remember Dankin at all and as he was racking his brain trying to recall their past meeting, Odonnl asked, "Does it technically count as meeting if one person is a prisoner?"

"You were a prisoner?" Benji asked the smugglers. "And my Dad caught you? What did you do?"

Dankin chuckled. "No, _we _weren't the prisoners . . ."

Then Luke remembered someone mentioning Myrkr out on the landing pad. He must have met them when we has being held captive by Karrde, a lifetime ago. Luke suddenly felt a little uneasy. He had since come to more or less trust Karrde and Mara, but they were still not exactly model citizens. And these people, who his son was so excited to dine with, could easily be hardened criminals.

"My dad was a prisoner? Why?" Benji asked.

"It's a long story," Odonnl replied around a mouthful of food. "Maybe you can get Mara to tell you sometime," he added with a wink. Benji grinned. Luke noted that his son did seem to be coping surprisingly well.

"So is it okay if we call you Luke? Or do we need to use your full title? Grand Master of All That is Good and Pure in the Galaxy or whatever?" Odonnl asked.

"Luke is fine," Luke replied, not certain if he should be offended by Odonnl's clear disdain. He wasn't the least bit surprised by the smuggler's lack of respect for authority—he remembered how Han used to refer to Leia as Your Worshipfulness and other such names. But the truth was lately he himself hadn't felt totally comfortable with his title. Wanting to move away from the subject, Luke looked to the man on the other side of Benji. He really didn't remember him at all. "Is Dankin your first name or last name?" he asked, hoping maybe hearing his full name would jog his memory.

"It's my only name," Dankin replied simply.

"You don't have a family name?"

"Don't need one. I was born a street rat. Never met my parents." "Oh," Luke paused, not certain how to proceed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I wouldn't have known what to do with a family if I'd had one." Luke would have expected some underlying anguish to accompany this assertion, but if it was there it was well hidden behind Dankin's bright eyes and the good humor he seemed to exude.

"Mara's the only one on the ship with a last name," Benji added helpfully.

Luke considered that. "So you're all . . . street rats?" Luke would have preferred to use a different term, but Dankin seemed comfortable enough with it and he couldn't think of a better one.

Pormfil nodded. "That's right," Odonnl replied. H'sishi just stared at Luke with hard feline eyes. Luke wondered whether he'd already managed to offend her or she just didn't like strangers.

Luke looked down at his plate to avoid having to come up with something else to say. The meal appeared to be cut up ration bars drizzled with a watery sauce. Luke took a bite. Not exactly gourmet, but the sauce added more flavor than Luke expected and it really wasn't bad. Or course, he was so hungry, grokk eggs would probably have tasted good. The others starting discussing repairs the ship needed and Luke's mind drifted to thoughts of Callista.

Once the meal was finished, Pormfil collected the plates from the table and Dankin disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later Dankin returned with a tray of mugs. "Dessert?" Luke asked as Dankin distributed the mugs.

"Yup. We call it Pirate's Brew—warm milk and rum."

"I think I'll pass," Luke said.

"Gonna lay off the alcohol for a while?" Dankin asked with a glint in his eye. "You're in luck. We happen to have our extra special Jedi Brew for just such an occasion." Dankin handed a mug to him and one to Benji. The last mug he set at the end of the table, where no one had been sitting.

"My favorite," Benji declared and took a big sip.

"What's in it?" Luke asked uncertainly.

"We replaced the rum with chocolate," Dankin explained. He hadn't sat down after distributing the mugs and he was making his way toward the doorway. "See you later," he said as he exited the room.

Luke was still hesitant and took a quick sniff of the liquid in his mug.

"You can relax." Luke turned as Mara entered the room. "No one's trying to slip you anything. It's just hot chocolate." Mara sat down at the end of the table and took a long drink from the mug that was waiting there for her.

Luke took a sip. It was indeed hot chocolate. "Where did Dankin go?" he asked.

"We can't leave the bridge unattended," Odonnl explained.

"Are you saying this is the entire crew? Just five of you for this whole ship?"

"Afraid so. We've been running sub-skel for months now. No thanks to you and your Republic friends," Odonnl replied.

"Me? What did I do?"

Mara sighed. "Luke no more runs Republic Intelligence than you control weapons maintenance on the _Dawn Beat_, Odonnl."

Odonnl smirked. "How could I forget? It only _seems _like the galaxy revolves around certain people."

"_Odonnl_." Mara hissed. There was an icy undercurrent to the word.

"I think I'm gonna try to get some rest before we get to Daloon," Odonnl muttered, as he stood up and stalked out of the room. Luke was used to all kinds of people hating him before they'd even met him, so Odonnl's attitude was nothing new. But something about it still dug at Luke, though he wasn't sure why.

"You should all try to get some rest," Mara said to her remaining crew. Pormfil and H'sishi nodded and left.

"You have trouble with Republic Intelligence?" Luke asked Mara after the others were gone.

"Only with them poaching my employees," Mara replied shortly. "If you guys are okay, I think I'm going to head to my room for a bit. You might want to do the same."

"I want to go to the bridge with Dankin," Benji replied. "He never sleeps."

"Everyone has to sleep sometime." Mara pursed her lips. "But if you want to keep him company, that's fine with me."

All this talk of rest and suddenly Luke was utterly exhausted. Benji was eagerly awaiting his permission to go to the bridge and Luke couldn't think of any reason to say no—after all, Benji had been hanging out with Dankin for some time before Luke even got here. "Okay, you can go. Just stay out of trouble."

Benji grinned and gave his dad a big hug. "I'll be good, I promise." Then he scurried out of the room.

"Benji seems quite fond of Dankin," Luke commented.

Mara looked bemused as she watched Benji disappear down the corridor. "Mostly I think he's hoping Dankin will let him steer the ship again." She turned a critical eye to Luke. "Get some rest. You look like hell."

Luke grimaced. "Thanks a lot." He'd meant it to be a sarcastic retort, but his tone came out flat with exhaustion. He headed back to his room and was asleep the instant his head hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Mara was standing on the roof of a storage shed, supervising the unloading of cargo on Daloon. She felt slightly guilty that she was not assisting with the moving of crates, an activity that was no more in the job description of her bridge crew than in her own. However, she needed a vantage point where she could see trouble coming—though she insisted everyone on her crew carry at least a stungun when outside the ship, once the shooting started she knew only Odonnl had even the slightest chance of hitting the broadside of a starcruiser.

Mara watched as Dankin and Odonnl carried what appeared to be an exceptionally heavy crate. As H'sishi took the crate from them, she faltered off balance and nearly smacked herself in the face with it—the crate was far lighter than she expected. Mara felt a faint smile tugging at her lips. Every time they played the same prank on the Togorian, and every time she fell for it. H'sishi fixed Dankin with a withering glare and he skittered away. She may not be handy with a blaster, but she certainly knew how to use the three-inch claws embedded in her hands.

Mara heard soft footsteps behind her and whirled around, blaster drawn. The intruder skillfully grabbed the barrel of her blaster and twisted it away. "Careful with that," the woman said. "You could take out someone's eye."

Mara reholstered her blaster. "You can lose a lot more than an eye sneaking up on people like that, Okeefe." Mara looked the other woman over. With her platinum blonde hair and the red and white bandana she always wore, Platt Okeefe, leader of the mercenary group known as the Black Curs, was hard to mistake.

"I'll keep that in mind," Platt replied. The merc seemed nervous, she kept looking around like she expected trouble to appear at any moment.

"Can I help you with something?" Mara asked.

Platt nodded distractedly. "I have something for you." She hesitated for a moment, then pulled something out of her pants pocket. She handed it to Mara, and Mara took it cautiously.

"What is—" she stopped midsentence. Mara knew exactly what it was. A lightsaber. Not just any lightsaber—Mara faintly recalled seeing the sea creatures engraved around the handle before. It was Callista's lightsaber.

Platt answered Mara's question before she could ask it, talking fast. "Before she got married, Callista did some work for the Curs. We got along great, even kept in touch every now and again after she married. Then, shortly before she died, Callista came to us very agitated. She left the lightsaber with N'gruta—an associate of mine—along with instructions to deliver it to you if she didn't return. She said you'd know what to do with it."

Mara stared at the lightsaber. She most certainly did not know what to do with it. Nor did she want anything to do with it. "Where was she going?" Mara asked, her investigative reflexes taking over.

"She said she was going to talk to Jacen Solo."

Mara looked at Platt. Why the cloak and dagger routine before a visit to her nephew? "What did she want to talk about?"

"I don't know, exactly. She said she was just going to talk, but . . . " Platt trailed off. She looked suspiciously around the landing area before she continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "She thought he might be a Sith Lord."

"Sith Lord?" Mara repeated. Her head was starting to spin. What was going on? And why was she suddenly in the middle of it? "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know!" Platt hissed. "She said his eyes were yellow. He was using some sort of trick, she was the only one who could see it, being Force-blind and all. I guess she didn't want to tell her family until she knew for sure. She didn't come back, so I guess now we know."

Mara stared incredulously at Platt. "Are you saying Jacen Solo killed Callista Skywalker?"

"I told you all I know," Platt replied and quickly turned to leave.

"Wait," Mara said. But Platt ignored her as she scrambled off the roof and disappeared into the knot of buildings below.

* * *

_Something isn't right_, Mara thought as she stared at the lightsaber she'd carefully set on the console before her. She was once again alone on the bridge of the _Incident Alley_, which was now headed for Corellia. Her mind had been racing since her conversation with Platt a few hours ago. Despite the overall insanity of all Platt had said and implied, what Mara really couldn't get passed was the feeling that a mistake had been made. But what exactly that mistake was she couldn't put her finger on.

Could it be true? Could Jacen be a Sith Lord? She thought she'd heard that he wasn't getting along with the other Jedi, but a Sith Lord? And Luke had no idea. Or did he?

Mara shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She didn't have a clue about Sith Lords and other Jedi business, and frankly she didn't even want to think about it. That wasn't what was bothering her at the moment. It wasn't the message itself that was off, it was something else . . . something about the delivery.

She focused deeply, trying to replay the conversation in her mind exactly. _She left the lightsaber with N'gruta—an associate of mine_. Mara paused. She had assumed Platt talked to Callista directly. But maybe she hadn't, maybe only her associate had—_N'gruta_. A Togorian name if Mara had ever heard one. And then it clicked.

Mara's mind flashed back to a conversation she walked into the middle of several years ago. H'sishi, the Togorian navigator, was asking Karrde how it was that Mara worked for both him and Booster Terrik. The confusion was resolved when they realized the names "Mara" and "Mirax" were similar enough that they sounded interchangeable to Togorian ears.

The message was for Mirax Terrik, not Mara. Mirax, who had close ties to both the Jedi and the Republic. Mirax, who could gently communicate the information to whoever might best be able to deal with it. Not Mara, who wanted nothing to do with the war or anyone in it. _Especially _not Mara while she was travelling with Luke, who just might die on the spot if he learned his nephew may have killed his wife.

Mara took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. What was she going to do? Callista had apparently been unwilling to tell Luke of her suspicions, and now Mara was sure the information would destroy him. And here Mara was, right in the middle of it all because the karking Togorian didn't understand Basic. And because Callista couldn't be bothered to enunciate when giving a secret message that would turn the galaxy upside down. Mara sighed. Blaming people wasn't going to help. Now she just had to figure out what to do. She picked up her comlink. She could use a couple more sets of ears to bounce idea off of.

* * *

Mara had awakened Dankin from a light nap. Her timing was impeccable, as always. He hadn't wanted to sleep too deeply and his comlink had buzzed just as he was about to sink too far from consciousness.

He slipped into the strategy room to see that Mara and Odonnl were already there, waiting.

"Sorry, I—" he began.

"Skip it," Mara cut in. "Something's come up that we need to deal with." Mara explained her strange meeting on Daloone with Platt Okeefe and her theory about who Platt was really supposed to have talked to. "So," Mara finished, "Thoughts? Ideas?"

Dankin looked to Odonnl, who seemed just as bewildered by Mara's story as he was. But it passed quickly. Mara wouldn't stand for her crew to wander around confounded during a crisis. "Well, we could just sell the information to Mirax and be done with it," Odonnl suggested.

"We're not exactly on speaking terms with Mirax," Dankin replied. Mirax, along with Republic Intelligence, was largely responsible for the shortage of employees throughout the company—they would approach Mara's employees, offering them a slightly higher salary and a new position with a fancy title. A lot of employees accepted the offer. Mara didn't know if the poachers made good on their promises of higher pay, but she did know very few of her former employees stayed with Republic Intelligence for long—it seemed certain personality traits common among smugglers didn't mesh well with a straight-laced government environment. Though they often returned begging to get their old jobs back, Karrde, with his near obsession with loyalty, had a strict policy against rehiring someone who had abandoned the company. Mara had refused to deal directly with Mirax since she had wiped out the crew of her second-in-command.

"Then we could go through Corran," Odonnl suggested. His face was serious, but Dankin had a hunch he was just trying to lighten the mood. Dankin couldn't recall exactly how it started, but they had been teasing Mara about pursuing Corran, who periodically showed up in an attempt to recruit Mara into the Jedi cause, for some time now.

Mara gave Odonnl a dubious stare.

"You know he's totally into you," Dankin added playfully.

"Yeah, totally into sacrificing me at the front lines of his war," Mara muttered sardonically.

"That really would be a bit of poetic justice though, wouldn't it?" Odonnl mused. "Mirax steals our employees, you steal her husband."

"Truly, I can't imagine a bigger disaster than me and Corran, even if he wasn't married," Mara said. Odonnl's digression seemed to have worked—much of the tension had drained from Mara's face and she was leaning back slightly in her chair, a little more relaxed. "Back to the topic at hand, for this bit of information I suppose we could make an exception and deal with Mirax directly. Continue." This was a familiar exercise—everyone present was simply supposed to throw out ideas and respond to the ideas of others. It didn't matter what the crew's actual opinion on the matter was—the decision was Mara's alone. Instead, the goal was to get out and evaluate as many ideas as possible, as quickly as possible.

"Alright," Dankin replied, looking back at Odonnl. "So you're suggesting we sell the information that was supposed to be freely given to Mirax?"

Odonnl shrugged. "She can afford it. And we could certainly use the money for repairs and upgrades."

"And what if it's not true? We don't deal in information we can't verify."

"I guess we'll have to find a way to verify it."

"Somehow that seems unlikely," Dankin replied. "Assuming we're not looking to beat the air addiction anytime soon."

"We could . . ." Odonnl twisted his lip in concentration. "I got nothing."

"Tell Luke? See what he thinks?" Dankin suggested uncertainly.

"No." Mara said firmly. "We don't tell Luke a thing until we're absolutely certain."

"Okay." The three smugglers thought silently for a minute. "How did Callista know?" Dankin asked.

"Platt said Callista could see his eyes were yellow. Which I know from experience is a mark of the Sith," Mara replied. "But no one else seems to be able to see it. Platt said he was using a trick that only Callista could see through." Mara paused as an idea began to form. "Because she was Force-blind," Mara continued slowly. "Dankin, is Faughn still carrying those ysalamiri?"

When Karrde had been forced off of Myrkr, he'd been sure to secure a few ysalamiri, the furry snake- like creatures with the peculiar ability to block the Force, his business sense telling him they were sure to become very valuable. At first they were passed from ship to ship so no one would discover them, but eventually they'd come to rest with Shirlee Faughn onboard the _Starry Ice_.

Dankin smiled, beginning to follow Mara's line of thought. "I think so."

"Good," Mara replied. "Tell her meet to us on Corellia. We won't do anything until we get a good look at Jacen from a Force-empty ysalamir bubble. If his eyes are yellow . . ." Mara trailed off, apparently not wanting to follow that thought all the way through.

"All hell breaks loose?" Odonnl suggested.

"Something like that."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Luke awakened slowly from what may have been the deepest sleep he'd ever had. He didn't want to wake up, he didn't want to stop dreaming.

He'd dreamt Callista was teaching him to ride cy'een in the oceans of Chad. Long ago, Luke had promised Callista they would one day return to visit her homeworld, a second honeymoon of sorts. They never made it. Not until last night.

The dream had been so vivid Luke could still taste the salt on his lips. He could still hear the distant song of the cy'een. But he couldn't sense Callista. He couldn't smell her hair as it tickled his nose, couldn't hear her sweet laughter, couldn't feel her body pressed against his. Never in his life had he felt so empty.

Luke glanced over at Benji, who appeared to be sound asleep. He didn't want to wake his son, so he decided he would go for a walk. Perhaps if he could find some place to meditate he could recapture the dream. Just a few more minutes of Callista by his side and maybe he wouldn't feel so hopeless.

As he was wandering down random corridors, Luke noted that less than a third of the glowpanels built into the floor were fully lit. Many panels were dark, some were dim, and some flickered on and off— apparently, glowpanels were not a high priority for repairs on this ship. As he approached the split at the end of a corridor, Luke could hear quiet sounds and sensed that Dankin was down the corridor to the left.

Luke almost turned around, not much in the mood for conversation, but ultimately he continued around the corner, thinking perhaps Dankin would know of a quiet place where he could meditate.

Dankin was crouched in front of a darkened glowpanel, the cover removed and set on the floor beside him. He was fiddling inside the panel and looked up as Luke approached.

"Were you able to get some sleep?" Dankin asked as he reached deeper into the glowpanel.

"I was, actually." Luke noticed the corridor dead-ended up ahead. He wouldn't be finding his quiet spot around here.

"Good. Got it!" Dankin said, pulling his arm back into view. He was using a pair of tongs to slowly extract what appeared to be a long, thin, writhing wire from the open panel. A conduit worm.

Luke couldn't help wrinkling his nose at the sight of the squirming pest. "Do you have a lot of trouble with those?"

"We got infested during a stop-over at one of the less savory ports on Coruscant a while back. So far we've managed to catch them before they get too big and they haven't done much damage, just shorted out a few glowpanels. But we haven't found the nest yet, so they keep popping up. It would be nice if we could get a whisperkit to clear them out once and for all." Dankin continued to hold the worm in the tongs with one hand and popped open a plasteen container with the other.

"Whisperkits will go after conduit worms?" Luke asked.

"Sure," Dankin replied as he deposited the creature in the plasteen container and sealed it. "Not many people seem to know that, but it's true. When I was little, there was this whisperkit that used to sleep curled up around my feet at night. When the power went out—and it went out a lot—the other kids would freak out because they'd feel the conduit worms slithering around, looking for electric currents. But I never had to worry because that whisperkit would slurp up any worms before they got near me." Dankin replaced the glowpanel cover and stood up.

"So why don't you get a whisperkit?" Luke asked. "They can't be that hard to come by."

Dankin shrugged. "I figure Mara's got bigger things to worry about. I can keep them in check for now." Dankin positioned the container under his arm. "I'm off." He gave Luke a friendly nod and then headed down the corridor. He opened the farthest door on the end.

"Is that your room?" Luke asked. "Uh-huh."

"Why is it so far from the others?"

"It stays warmer closer to the engine," Dankin replied simply.

Luke nodded. He could tell that wasn't the real reason, and for a moment he wondered why Dankin would be evasive about such a simple question when he seemed so open about everything else. But the thought quickly passed. Luke figured it was none of his business where Dankin slept anyway. The emptiness around Luke seemed to get larger with each passing second, and he was eager to try to fill it. Maybe the dream was Callista's way of trying to reach him from beyond. Maybe if he immersed himself in the Force, Callista would be able to find him. "By the way, is there a quiet place on the ship where I could meditate for a little while?"

Dankin thought for a moment. "The cargo hold is only half full right now. That's probably your best bet. On the lower level, all the way aft."

"Have you told Mara the story about the whisperkit?" Luke didn't know why he asked, the question was out of his mouth before he even realized he was speaking.

"No." Dankin paused. "Actually, I don't think I've ever told anyone that story before." He gave Luke a slightly quizzical grin before disappearing into his room.

* * *

Some time later, Luke had found his way to the cargo hold and settled into a deep meditation. He was reaching out, searching for Callista deep in the Force, when the feeling of danger descended on him.

Luke's eyes snapped open a second before the alarms went off. It took him only a split second to pull his mind out of meditation mode and to focus on the present. He was on his feet and halfway across the cargo hold when he heard Mara's words in his mind:

_Don't you dare. _

_I can help—_

_We__'__re handling it. Stay with Benji. _Before Luke could argue further, the connection was severed as Mara directed her attention elsewhere.

Luke continued to sprint towards the bridge.

* * *

Benji woke up alone and scared. He knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Tentatively, he reached out, trying to sense what was wrong through the Force. There were alarms sounding and everyone was rushing toward the bridge, but that was all he could gather.

_I wish Mom was here_, Benji thought. _She always knows what to do._

Mara had told him to stay in his room if anything bad happened. But Benji didn't want to be alone and needed to know what was happening. Cautiously, he slipped out the doorway and down the corridor. Benji felt the familiar shuddering under his feet of a ship under attack. He quickened his step.

Just as he was turning the last corner, the ship bucked violently beneath him. As he went sprawling forward, he saw Mara and his father fall into each other, having met just outside the bridge. Then Mara shoved his father down the narrow shaft that led to the starboard quadlasers. Mara appeared to be heading toward the port-side gunstation.

Benji inched toward the bridge. His Uncle Han had on more than one occasion warned him against distracting gunners, so he knew better than to try to talk to Mara or his father. He peered onto the bridge, wondering if anyone would be mad that he had left his room.

"Benji!" Odonnl exclaimed when he spotted him in the doorway. "Take over the main sensor station."

Uncertainly, Benji slid into the seat usually occupied by H'sishi. For a moment he wondered where the Togorian was, but he quickly forgot that thought as the ship shuddered violently and more alarms blared to life.

Benji noticed Dankin was trying to communicate with him over the chaos. "I need you to tell me which weapons are active on the main ship."

Benji took a deep breath. Though he had more experience with starfighters, he knew basically how to read the sensors on _Saber_, so he ought to be able to do this. Looking at the panel before him, he saw no less than nine different screens of various shapes and sizes, and more buttons scattered among them than there were on an entire x-wing. Which screen was he even supposed to be looking at?

Experimentally, he pushed a few buttons. The images on the screens changed, but he still couldn't tell what was going on. _Saber_'s sensors came up in green and red. These sensors were mostly gray, with bits of yellow and purple, none of it forming any shapes he could recognize.

"Forget charging the main ship," Benji heard Mara's voice over the comm. I think we got a path cleared through the starfighters."

Benji was tossed back into his seat as Dankin spun the ship in a hard ninety-degree turn. He straightened and continued to puzzle over the sensors, desperately wanting to be helpful, but feeling utterly useless.

"Sithspawn!" Mara's voice cut across the bridge. "Cloaked starfighter coming in! I can't stop it—"

That was the last thing Benji heard before his station exploded into shards of glass and shrapnel.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Kriff! Cloaked starfighters!? This close the sensors should have picked them up—_

Odonnl's heart leapt to his throat as he heard an explosion behind him. The starfighter had managed to penetrate the shields and land a direct hit to the external sensors. The feedback had caused the sensor station to burst, tearing Benji from his restraints and raining broken glass and bits of metal across the bridge.

Odonnl glanced over his shoulder, then for a second his eyes met Dankin's.

"He's fine, just fly," Odonnl told Dankin, forcing calm into his voice. In truth he had no idea what condition Benji was in. He was lying motionless on the floor, Odonnl couldn't tell if he was stunned or unconscious. Surely he couldn't be dead. But either way, it wouldn't do him any good if they got blown to bits before making hyperspace. Dankin's eyes were still wide and Odonnl could tell he was fighting panic, but he flew steady.

Odonnl stared at the countdown to hyperspace, blocking all other thoughts. Everything else could wait until the jump. Finally, he pulled the lever. Stars stretched into starlines and Odonnl could breathe again.

Luke and Mara instantly appeared on the bridge, Mara shouldering in front of Luke to get a better look at Benji. He sat up slowly, looking dazed but conscious. There were shallow cuts across his face and chest, his tunic now sporting several long gashes, but nothing seemed to be too deep. Odonnl let out a relieved sigh and smiled encouragingly at Dankin, who was finally getting some color back in his face. He watched as Mara scooped Benji up and carried him to the med bay, Luke close on her heels.

* * *

Pormfil and H'sishi appeared on the bridge within minutes.

"What happened?" Pormfil asked.

"Benji was working the sensors—" Dankin began.

[The child was on the bridge?] H'sishi cut in. [Chief said he was not to be on the bridge if we had trouble. She will not be pleased.]

The conversation ceased as Mara approached.

"He'll be okay. All the cuts were pretty superficial," Mara said. She ran a critical eye over each member of her crew. "Why was Benji on the bridge?" she asked evenly.

Odonnl met Mara's harsh gaze. "We needed someone to man the sensors."

"Where were you?" Mara asked, turning to H'sishi.

[I was assisting Pormfil in the engine room.] H'sishi lowered her head. [I will accept punishment for abandoning my post.]

Mara turned back to Odonnl. "So you brought Benji to the bridge in direct violation of my orders?"

"We needed help."

"From a twelve-year-old kid who doesn't know a thing about a ship this complicated? One who has scarcely left the protection of the Jedi Academy since he was born?"

Odonnl stared levelly at Mara, refusing to back down. "He's a Jedi. We thought he could handle it."

"Well then I'm sorry to tell you even human Jedi cannot see ultraviolet," Mara snapped. A muscle in Odonnl's cheek twitched. "Or did you forget that H'sishi prefers the sensors set in ultraviolet? And that Benji probably didn't know to flip the switch so they appear in the human visible spectrum?"

Odonnl looked to the floor. The others shrank away, bringing to Mara's mind an image of frightened whisperkits flattening their ears against their backs.

"Benji is our passenger. We promised him protection. If anything happens to him—" Mara's voice caught in her throat. She swallowed hard and continued. "From now on I expect you to obey my orders. If you can't do that, you no longer have a place on my ship." Then she turned on her heel and stalked off the bridge.

* * *

Luke settled Benji into his bed and put him in a light healing trance. Truly, Luke was more concerned about his son's mental health than physical. Luke thought Benji had enough battle experience that he ought to be able to control his nerves better than that, he shouldn't get flustered. Luke's main focus had been on taking down starfighters, but he'd sensed Benji's panic and bewilderment during the battle. They'd have to work on that. In the meantime, Luke could feel a storm of emotion elsewhere on the ship. He listened carefully, allowing the Force to enhance his hearing, and was able to hear the crew speaking on the bridge.

"We made a mistake. It's not our fault we're so understaffed. Mara needs to cool it," Odonnl grumbled.

"She's doing her best," Dankin replied defensively.

"Yeah, and so are we. Unfortunately our best doesn't seem to be good enough for her these days. Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn't all be better off if we just went our separate ways."

"Do you really mean that?" Dankin asked. "Do you all feel that way?"

"Maybe we should all take some time to clear our heads," Pormfil replied.

Pormfil, Odonnl, and H'sishi left, leaving Dankin alone on the bridge. Luke gave Benji a final glance, saw that he was still sleeping peacefully, and went to see if there was a way for him to help.

* * *

Mara locked the door to her room, her hands trembling. She collapsed onto her bed, her nerves shot. She might have cried, if she hadn't sworn off crying years ago. When had she become so spineless, about to lose it at the first sign of violence?

She breathed deeply, forcing calm. _Benji's fine. Just a few cuts and bruises. They rest of us have seen a lot worse, and I bet he has too._

But try as she might, Mara couldn't get the image of Benji lying on the deck, bleeding, out of her head. Nor could she forget the look of fright in his eyes when she knelt beside him. When she had first set out to find Benji, she had idly wondered if he had his father's blue eyes. He didn't. Or at least, he didn't _only _have his father's eyes. They were blue in the center, but rimmed in grey. And when the light caught them just right, flecks of grey were visible throughout. They were unexpected, striking. And when they were filled with fear Mara's stomach tightened into knots.

Why did her life always get so much more complicated as soon as Skywalker showed up? And why did he always have to show up right when she least needed another complication?

Mara buried her head in her pillow, allowing herself a few precious moments of rest before figuring out what she was going to do about the destroyed sensor array.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Luke stopped in the doorway of the bridge, contemplating what exactly he was going to say. Dankin was carefully picking broken glass off the floor and placing the tiny pieces in a refuse container. He jerked his hand back as a glass shard sliced his palm. For several seconds Dankin stared at the wound, watching as blood gathered in it.

_She doesn't come running when I bleed._

Luke looked away, suddenly aware that he was eavesdropping on private thoughts. He took a few moments to refocus through the Force, to narrow his awareness so he wouldn't overhear any more stray thoughts. But he couldn't unhear what he'd already heard. Or unfeel the emotions bubbling beneath the words. Luke realized for the first time that he was not the only person on this ship who was in pain.

Then Luke shuffled onto the bridge, being sure to make noise so he wouldn't startle Dankin. Dankin looked up and smiled at Luke, all negative emotions seeming to evaporate in an instant. "That was some impressive gunning."

"And some impressive flying. Do you guys always like to cut it that close?" Luke asked.

"We just wanted to keep things interesting for our Jedi warriors," Dankin replied with a wry grin. He quickly wrapped a bit of cloth around his hand to stop the bleeding and went back to collecting glass.

"Let me help," Luke offered. He reached out his hand and all the bits of glass rose into the air. He waved his hand slightly and all the glass flew through the air and landed neatly in the container beside Dankin.

"That's a pretty handy trick," Dankin observed, nodding his approval. "But I bet you got all kinds of handy tricks up your sleeve."

Luke nodded vaguely and waved his hand again; this time all the scraps of metal and tiny parts from the sensors gathered in a pile beside the sensor station. "Do you think you can repair the sensors?"

"I'm going to try," Dankin replied. The smuggler set to work sorting through the parts and Luke did his best to assist him.

After a few minutes Luke asked, "Are they really going to leave?"

"I don't know. They did seem pretty serious, didn't they?" Dankin looked thoughtful for a moment, but then continued untangling wires. If he wondered how Luke knew about the earlier conversation he didn't show it.

"That doesn't bother you?"

Dankin shrugged. "They will or they won't; I can't control it, so there's no point in worrying about it. Reach me that multitool, will you?"

Luke reached for the tool.

"I'm sorry about Benji," Dankin said.

"It wasn't your fault," Luke replied. "Benji was supposed to have stayed in his room." Luke was silent for a moment before adding, "And maybe he would be a little better at following orders if his father tried it once in a while."

Dankin chuckled. "He just might."

Shortly thereafter Pormfil appeared. "I'll take over here," the Kerestian said. "You get some sleep, Dankin." Dankin started to object, but Pormfil cut him off. "Everything is under control. This may be the last chance for you to sleep before we get to Corellia."

Dankin sighed. "Alright." He retreated off the bridge.

Pormfil crouched next to the sensor station and went to work. Luke sat nearby, wanting to be available to lend a hand without getting in the way.

* * *

Odonnl's frustration quickly fizzled. By the time he was back at his room he'd forgiven Mara. He sent Pormfil to relieve Dankin and sat down to try and clear his head. Leaving the company was never really an option for him anyway. Not since Talon Karrde had saved his life.

_Odonnl was just shy of sixteen and stranded on Coruscant when Karrde found him. He grew up in an orphanage and spent most of his childhood learning all he could about starships. About six months before his sixteenth life day he was hired by a group of rich kids, not much older than him, to help out on their first flight without adults. They were going to visit the tourist hotspots of the galaxy, starting with Coruscant. They got in trouble—something about a party that got out of control, Odonnl didn't know the details—and had to run home with their tails between their legs. No one bothered to tell him._

_He didn't miss Corellia, he'd just hoped to see a little more of the galaxy before being grounded again. Odonnl had always prided himself on being raised on the mean streets of Corellia. But he was about to find out the mean streets of Corellia didn't hold a candle to the downright wicked streets of Coruscant._

_It was several days after the ship had left without him and Odonnl was hungry. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. On Corellia, people always had odd jobs for him to do; if nothing else he could wash dishes in a restaurant to cover a meal. Coruscant was different. First, he tried the shipyards, hoping to earn a few credits working on ships. They said he was too young and inexperienced. The diners and cantinas on the upper levels threw him out, citing rules about homeless beings loitering. So he'd tried his luck down a few levels. And then down a few more. And a few more. He found himself on a level with no eateries, no stores, no legitimate commercial activity at all. He was lost and starving._

_He kicked a broken bottle lying in the middle of the street in frustration. The bottle glanced off a nearby building, eliciting movement from a huddled form._

_"__Sorry, I didn't see you there," Odonnl said. He saw the form was human, a child a few years younger than himself. When the boy didn't respond Odonnl walked over to him. "I didn't hit you, did I?" The boy shook his head. "Hey, maybe you can help me. How do get I get to . . . somewhere less dark and creepy?" The boy said nothing, instead taking a bite of something in his hand. Food! "Or you could tell me where you got the food," Odonnl suggested._

_"__Have some." The boy offered him what proved to be the remains of a very stale ration bar._

_In his mind Odonnl knew he ought to decline. But in the end his stomach won out. "Thank you," he said, tearing off a good-sized chunk and handing the rest back to the boy._

_"__Dankin!" boomed across the empty street as a door in the building opened behind the boys. Odonnl leapt to his feet and started to run. His new friend didn't get up, but rather shrank away, hugging closer to the building. "What do you think you're doing? Get back in here now!" The words were slurred but the tone sent shivers down Odonnl's back. Odonnl paused to look back and saw the voice belonged to a ronto of a human, whose face was crisscrossed with scars and tattoos. The man grabbed Dankin by his shirt with one hand and struck him across the face with the other. "Now!" he screamed releasing Dankin's shirt and then kicking his legs out from under him as he scrambled away. Odonnl could do nothing but stand and watch, stunned by the needless cruelty. He didn't move until the door was shut, with the horrible man inside. Then he sprinted away, swearing to himself that once he had found his __way back up he would never come down this low again._

_Odonnl eventually found a diner on an upper level willing to exchange food for work. He renewed his quest to find work at the shipyards, determined to get off the city planet as soon as possible. While wandering amongst a group of light freighters, a man pulled him aside and gave him a note, telling Odonnl he may have an opportunity for him. The note contained a time and an address. The address was at a midlevel, lower than Odonnl really wanted to go, but he could hardly ignore his first lead for something that might get him off the planet._

_It was a strange restaurant. It was very quiet, sparsely decorated with the tables spread far apart. The dress of the clientele indicated a range from the upper crust to common street thugs. Odonnl tried to focus on what his contact was saying, but aside from catching that his name was Chin, Odonnl heard very little. He was trying to figure out what kind of place this was when his eyes caught a familiar face—the child from the lower levels. Dankin._

_Dankin was sitting beside the tattooed man who had hit him before. Across the table was a very well- dressed man. There was something unsettling about the way the well-dressed man eyed Dankin. "What's going on there?" Odonnl asked Chin._

_"__Once you turn sixteen—What?" Chin glanced over his shoulder. "Best to just ignore them." Then he added, under his breath, "Nothing you can do about recreation slaves." Just then the well-dressed man slid a credstick across the table and reached for Dankin, a look of eager anticipation in his eyes._

_Odonnl had heard of recreation slaves. He'd just never believed that they existed until that moment. Back in the orphanage, when a child would complain about the quality of the food or the cramped sleeping areas, the guardians would tell him he ought to just be grateful he wasn't a recreation slave._

_Recreation slaves, always young children, were rented out to anyone willing to pay, for any purpose. If they were returned injured or even dead, the renter was simply charged an additional fee, as though he had damaged a rented speeder. Odonnl had always thought the stories were made up to keep the orphans in line. But now he saw all too clearly that the stories were true._

_He didn't know if it was guilt over taking food from someone who clearly needed it so much more, or frustration over his current situation, or outrage that the galaxy had suddenly become a place of unthinkable torment, but Odonnl did the bravest thing of his whole life. And the stupidest._

_"__Don't touch him!" Odonnl screamed, charging toward Dankin's table. The tattooed man was a quickdraw. Luckily, Chin was equally nimble and hurled a chair into a glass divider nearby, providing just enough of a distraction that the blaster shot whizzed over Odonnl's shoulder. Odonnl dropped his shoulder and slammed into the tattooed man. They both fell to the floor, the blaster sliding out of reach. Odonnl wrestled with the man, trying desperately to pin his arms so he couldn't grab for any more weapons, until the security officers arrived and pulled them apart. As they were putting handcuffs on Odonnl he saw the well-dressed man slipping out a back door, Dankin in tow._

_The tattooed man pointed at Chin and snarled that he was with Odonnl. When the security officers asked him, Chin glanced at Odonnl and declared he'd never seen him before in his life. They hauled Odonnl away._

_Odonnl spent the worst night of his life in jail. He'd been in plenty of jails before—when he was a preteen he'd learned to pick pockets and had been picked up by CorSec on more than one occasion— and this jail was unremarkable. But Odonnl was tormented by thoughts of what was happening to Dankin, of whether he had made it worse, of what he could have done differently to save the younger boy._

_The next morning an older woman arrived at the jail and bailed Odonnl out. She told him she worked for Talon Karrde and that he was to report for duty. Odonnl vaguely recalled Chin having mentioned the name Karrde, but he had no intention of going anywhere but to find Dankin and somehow or another rescue him. Once away from the jail, Odonnl started to walk away. The woman grabbed him__by the arm, her grip tight enough to bruise. "You aren't going anywhere but with me. You already owe __Karrde your first four of five paychecks to cover the bail I just paid."_

_Odonnl tried to twist away, but the woman's grip was firm. She half-led, half-dragged Odonnl onto an action transport parked at a nearby landing strip. She didn't let go until they entered a large room near the center of the ship. In the center of the room was a large, ornate desk. Sitting behind the desk was a man with sharp features and black hair who looked down appraisingly at the new recruit._

_"__Let me go! This is kidnapping! You'll be sorry!" Odonnl had been letting loose a steady stream of indignant retorts since being grabbed and he didn't let up after entering the room. He was fighting mad and his attempts to free himself caused him to sprawl forward onto the floor when the woman finally released him._

_"__You must be Odonnl," the man behind the desk said._

_Odonnl ignored him, choosing instead to spin around toward the woman who was now blocking the exit, a fresh set of invectives on his lips. But he stopped short, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Chin was seated on the other side of the room. And beside him was Dankin._

_"__He's safe for now. And so are you." Odonnl turned toward the desk and got his first good look at the man who had altered the course of his life forever—Talon Karrde. "Chin tells me you never gave him a response to my offer," Karrde continued._

_"__What offer?" Odonnl asked._

_Karrde glanced to Chin then back to Odonnl. "An offer of employment. You work on my ship, you follow my orders and in exchange I'll provide you with a place to sleep, meals, and all other necessities. Not to mention training in a variety of fields. If you decide you don't like our arrangement, you are free to leave at any time."_

_"__What about Dankin?" Odonnl asked._

_Karrde looked very seriously at Odonnl. "He's your brother, right?" Odonnl didn't respond right away and Karrde continued quickly. "I do not hire anyone under the age of sixteen. But I could hardly split up orphan siblings. If you will take responsibility for him and work extra shifts to cover his expenses, I suppose there's no reason why your little brother can't come along."_

_For several seconds, Odonnl pretended to consider the offer. But in truth he'd already made up his mind._

Whenever Odonnl felt like things were tough, when he was tired and frustrated and angry, he thought back to that day. The day his life changed. He had no idea what it was Karrde saw in him, why Karrde thought he was worth rescuing off the streets. But every day he was grateful that he had.

He'd never learned exactly how Dankin had ended up on Karrde's ship that day, all he knew was that it must have been Chin's idea. But Chin couldn't have pulled it off without Karrde's help.

It didn't matter what Mara said or did, it didn't matter how bad things got. Odonnl could never abandon Dankin. And he could never turn his back on the company.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Luke was helping Pormfil to open what remained of the casing around the sensor station when something suddenly came over him. A wave of emotion crashed into him, so intense it threatened to engulf him. The only way he could describe the emotion was sheer terror. Luke didn't know exactly what was causing it; he just knew something was _wrong_.

He vaulted over the broken station and sprinted down the corridors in the direction of the sensation. He wasn't sure who was so afraid, but he knew it was coming from somewhere on the ship.

As suddenly as it began, it was over. Like waking from a bad dream, the terror was gone, leaving only a faint feeling of unease. Luke stopped short and looked around. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was running and now noticed he was in a dimly lit corridor that dead ended up ahead. He was standing in the same spot he'd been in when he'd talked to Dankin about conduit worms. Which meant Dankin's room was just up ahead. That's where the feelings of terror had been coming from. Luke took a step forward, but then stopped as he heard voices on the other side of the door to Dankin's room.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Odonnl asked quietly.

"No. I'm fine. Really. Sorry to wake you." The voice was so raw, Luke didn't recognize it at first. But it must have been Dankin.

"No need to apologize. I'm not really all that tired. I've actually slept for more than ten minutes in the last week," Odonnl replied dryly. They fell silent and Luke tried to convince himself that the being he sensed in the room was really Dankin. Instead of the good-humor and optimism that normally radiated off the smuggler, Luke felt only fear and shame.

"Well, if you won't talk about your dream, we'll talk about something else," Odonnl said. "Did you hear the Dreadnaughts lost to the Savages?"

As Luke thought back, he remembered Benji commenting that Dankin never slept. And Dankin did always seem to be awake when everyone else was sleeping. If that level of emotion was caused by a nightmare, Luke understood why Dankin didn't like to sleep. Fortunately, Luke was certain he could help. He could put mental walls in Dankin's mind, blocking off whatever memories or bad thoughts caused the dreams. Luke took a step forward, eager for the chance to put his abilities to good use.

"No."

Luke turned to see Mara standing with her arms crossed directly behind him. "I can help," Luke said quietly.

"No, you can't," Mara replied. "Don't you think it's occurred to me? Don't you think if mental blocks would help I would have done it years ago?"

Luke could tell there was no sense in arguing with Mara. She would not be persuaded. But the decision was not Mara's. Luke took another step toward Dankin's room. Mara was in front of him in an instant. She stood with her face mere inches from his and stated flatly, "Not now. Not here."

Dankin and Odonnl were still chatting about smashball. Luke could tell neither of them was particularly interested in the subject, but as they talked Dankin was starting to regain himself, to be almost recognizable.

Luke hadn't realized just how much his muscles had tensed, he'd been battle-ready moments ago. He relaxed and raised his hands to Mara, deciding that now was not the time.

"Come with me," Mara said. She walked away and he followed. She led him to her private quarters. She gestured for him to sit on a small couch and then pulled a chair away from her desk and took a seat facing him.

"You will not enter his mind without his permission."

"Of course," Luke replied. "I would never do that. But I can help him, I'm sure of it. Who wouldn't want help if it meant they could sleep soundly for perhaps the first time in their life?"

"Dankin, that's who. He was traumatized as a child. That's all I know. That's all anyone knows. Because he won't talk about it. He won't spread his pain to others."

"But I'm offering—"

"But nothing. I won't let you bully him into something he doesn't want just because you're looking for a distraction."

"Bully? I'm the bully? You won't even let him speak for himself!"

"Because I've tried to help him. I've asked him to let me in. He always refuses. Talking about it only makes him feel worse. If he doesn't sleep for too long at any one time, he's okay—he doesn't dream. We have a system and it works."

"That's what you call working? I've never felt such deep terror before in my life."

Mara's cheek twitched. She stared hard at Luke. "Ask him if you must. But you will respect his wishes."

Luke nodded. "That's all I ever intended." He strode out of the room before Mara could argue further.

* * *

_"__He would slit his own throat for you."_

Karrde's words echoed in Mara's mind as she watched Luke leave. She hated Dankin's nightmares, hated what had happened to him as a child more than she'd ever hated anything in her whole life. Yet there was nothing she could do about it. Mental blocks seemed so easy. But in order to place mental blocks, you had to see what you were blocking. See the haunting memories, see what was so carefully hidden from the world.

Whenever this happened, when Dankin's sleep pattern was disrupted and the nightmares returned, Mara thought about the last conversation she'd had with Karrde before he officially handed the company over to her.

_"__There's one last thing I'd like to talk about before I go. I've told you before that everyone has a price, a hierarchy of loyalties, other things they value above the company—for some it's simply money, for others family, a homeplanet, or a pet cause. If it comes down to it, everyone can be bought, everyone has something closer to them than this company. And that's okay, I demand loyalty but I know absolute loyalty is not possible._

_"__There is one exception. Dankin. For a long time I thought I had his absolute loyalty, that he would choose nothing and no one above me. And then you came along." Karrde stared intently at her. Mara met his gaze evenly, despite the lump forming in her throat._

_"__You know what I'm talking about. He would slit his own throat for you." Karrde paused, allowing his words to sink in. "I'm speaking as a friend when I make this last request._

_"__Please, don't ask him to."_

Mara had resented Karrde's words at first. Of course she would not demand any of her employees lay down their life for her. Lately though, when she saw the exhaustion etched on Dankin's face, when she felt the overwhelming terror as he tried to sleep, Mara wondered if she hadn't already failed Karrde's final request.

* * *

Luke was once again in the corridor outside Dankin's room when he stopped short. The door was slightly ajar and voices filtered out.

"Did I wake you, Benji? I'm sorry," Dankin said. There was a fresh current of hurt and shame flowing from Dankin, and Luke could see what Mara meant when she said talking about it made Dankin feel worse.

"It's okay," Benji replied. "I used to have nightmares too. I could hardly sleep when my dad was away. Then my mom gave me this." Benji paused as he presented something to Dankin. "She said it would keep bad dreams away. Here, take it, it really works."

"But then how will you sleep?" Dankin asked.

"Oh, I don't need it when my dad is nearby."

"Well . . . I'll give it a shot. Thank you."

"Don't worry, she won't let you down. There's just one thing . . . don't tell my dad I still sleep with a stuffed animal."

A hint of Dankin's exuberance returned as he replied, "I won't tell your dad if you don't tell the rest of the crew."

"It's a deal," Benji answered.

Luke backed up quickly down the corridor, his own mind now in turmoil.

Why hadn't he known Benji had nightmares? Callista must have known, why had she never mentioned it? Most likely, she hadn't wanted to worry him. But Benji was his son, he should have known. At the very least, he should have sensed something through the Force. And if he'd known, he would have been able to tell Benji how to overcome his fears through the Force.

What else did he not know about his family? What else had Callista not been able to tell him while he was fighting and she was raising their son? What other moments had passed without him noticing? The war had taken so much of his time, so much time that he should have spent with his family. Time he would never get back.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Dankin held the stuffed animal gingerly as he looked it over. It had soft fur, a little worn but still bright white. He stroked its fluffy tail, the long fibers silky between his fingers. He was struck by how much it resembled the whisperkit that slept at his feet when he was young. He'd always admired the whisperkit's fur, pure white among so much filth. Strange, he hadn't thought about the whisperkit since. . . ever, really. But he'd been reminded of it twice in just a few days. The only way he was able to move forward, away from his childhood, was to never look back—at least, not while he was conscious—but for the first time he wondered whatever became of the small creature. Nothing good, most likely.

Dankin tried to push away all thoughts of the past as he lay back down in his bed. They would arrive at Corellia soon, and he needed to be rested before they got there. He took a final look at the stuffed whisperkit, silently pleading for a dreamless sleep. Then he tucked the toy under his arm and waited for unconsciousness to once again overtake him.

* * *

Mara headed to the exercise room, hoping to work off some stress with a bit of training. Normally she preferred to train alone, but this time she made an exception.

"Are you up for a little sparring?" she asked as they arrived in what used to be a two-level cargo hold but now served primarily as a training area.

Benji didn't answer right away. He twisted his lip as he took in the catwalks crisscrossing above him.

"I've got remotes if you prefer," Mara suggested.

"It's not that." Benji swallowed hard. "I don't have my own lightsaber. I never built one," he confessed, looking away from Mara as his cheeks flushed. "I usually just use my mom's." Benji's voice trembled a bit at the last sentence, as a fresh wave of sorrow flowed over him.

_Well_, Mara thought to herself, _nice of the galaxy to finally throw me an easy one_.

"Here," she said out loud, digging into her pocket and retrieving Callista's lightsaber. "Your mother sent this for you." Mara tossed the lightsaber to Benji, hoping he wouldn't expect any further explanation.

Benji's eyes widened as he caught the lightsaber, his embarrassment forgotten, replaced with eagerness. He looked at Mara, but seemed to struggle to find the right words to say.

Having had enough of the emotional rollercoaster her ship had become, Mara hurried on with the exercise. "Don't just stare at it. Let's see if it still works."

Benji nodded, then carefully pressed the ignition button. A bright topaz blade appeared accompanied by a familiar low hum. He experimentally waved it, seeming to savor the slight change in sound as it sliced through the air.

"That blade might have belonged to your mother, but don't be treating it like it's sacred. It's a weapon and it's been around longer than your father. You're not going to hurt it."

Benji still seemed mesmerized by the glowing blade. "Alright, let's see what you've got." Mara pulled her own lightsaber from her belt.

Benji tore his eyes from his blade to look at Mara as she settled into a combat stance and ignited her weapon. She moved slowly and deliberately at first, and Benji was easily able to match each thrust and parry. Mostly she moved slowly because she didn't want to overwhelm Benji, but in truth she herself had not fought against a living opponent with a lightsaber in far too long.

After a few minutes she sped up a bit and he continued to keep pace. "So far, so good," Mara commented. "Do you have any finishing moves?" She took a step back and let her blade slip outward, inviting Benji to attempt to disarm her. Benji eyes focused intently and he took a deep breath. Then in one motion he advanced toward her and twisted his blade around hers. Mara relaxed her wrist, intending to allow her weapon to be pulled from her grasp. But it wasn't.

Benji furrowed his brow in disappointment. Mara moved back into a fairly gentle attack. After a few more minutes of sparring, Mara once again let her lightsaber drop to where she could be easily disarmed. Once again Benji attempted to twist her blade away from her and once again she easily kept her grip.

Benji stopped, took a step back and shut down his lightsaber. "I can't do it."

"Why not?" Mara asked.

"I know the technique, I just can't make it work," he replied miserably. From his tone, Mara guessed that he'd been struggling with this move for some time.

"Let's try it again. Relax," Mara began.

"I know. Let the Force flow through me," Benji finished.

"Never mind that," Mara replied. "All you need is to decide what you're going to do and then do it."

Benji looked uncertain. "What are you going to do?" Mara asked.

"Disarm you?" he replied hesitantly.

"What are you going to do?" Mara repeated.

"Disarm you," Benji said firmly.

"What are you going to do?" Mara repeated a bit louder.

"Disarm you," Benji declared, matching Mara's volume. He ignited his lightsaber, closed the distance between them, and went in for his finishing move before Mara could repeat the question a fourth time. Mara's lightsaber was ripped from her hand and went sailing across the room. Benji watched as the lightsaber clattered to the ground and Mara nodded her approval.

"You did it."

"I did it." Benji said slowly, like he didn't quite believe it. After a moment he looked up to Mara and grinned in satisfaction. "I really did it."

"Let's not get cocky," Mara warned. "See if you can do it again." She collected her lightsaber and they continued to spar.

An hour later, Mara and Benji sat on the floor, sipping water as they went over the high points of what proved to be a successful workout for both of them.

"I'm sure your father will be pleased," Mara said offhandedly. Suddenly Benji's smile faded.

"What's wrong?" Mara asked.

"I wasn't going to tell my dad. I don't think he'll be very happy."

"Why not?"

"He kinda forbid me from using Mom's lightsaber. He thinks I need to build my own."

"Don't you have a master?" Mara asked. "What does he think about it?"

"My master," Benji said, picking his words carefully, "My master lets me use it."

"Well, then you should be fine." Benji nodded, but looked unconvinced. After a moment of silence Mara added, " You know, I didn't build this lightsaber."

"You didn't?" Benji asked curiously.

"No, you're father gave it to me many years ago, before you were born."

"Why didn't you make your own?"

"Because . . ." Mara hesitated, trying to recall Luke's exact words. " 'Not all Jedi take the same path.' Or something like that. I'm sure it was terribly profound."

Benji looked skeptical. "That doesn't sound like Dad. Well, maybe the profound part does. But not the rest."

"I'm not sure how to explain exactly, but at the time it did sound like your father."

Something passed over Benji's features as he stared at the dull gray paneling of the floor. He ran a hand through his sandy brown hair.

"Although," Mara continued, "I have always wondered . . ." Benji looked up at her expectantly. "Your father was carrying this lightsaber when he lost his hand. And then his own clone nearly killed him with it. Sometimes I wonder if maybe he wasn't just trying to unload a bad luck charm." The young Jedi gave Mara an odd look, not quite certain how serious she was. "But it was probably the profound thing," she added quickly. "Probably."

* * *

_Where are you Callista? Why won't you come back to me?_

Luke didn't understand. Obi-Wan had spoken to him long after his death. He'd caught glimpses of Yoda and even his father as ghosts of the Force. Why not Callista? He needed to see her one last time, to speak to her just once more. He paced the room in frustration, bordering on despair.

She had to be out there. She may have been Force-blind at her death, but she was still a Jedi. He had no doubt that she would be welcomed by the Force when she died, that she would have the same abilities as any other fallen Jedi. So why hadn't she found him?

* * *

Hours after succumbing to sleep, Dankin drifted toward consciousness. It was a slow awakening, something he wasn't used to. His thoughts began to order themselves as his mind kicked back into gear. That's when it hit him.

For months now the company's books hadn't been balancing. Dankin and Odonnl had spent weeks pouring over expense reports, trying to find the missing funds. Eventually they'd been forced to the conclusion that someone in the company was stealing money. Since then, they'd spent nearly every spare moment trying to determine who the thief was. And now, Dankin had it.

_Of course! We've been staring at it all along. That has to be who's been siphoning money from the company._

He sat up abruptly, his senses feeling sharper than they had in weeks. He was not only rested, but he'd finally solved the mystery, and just in time. He got to his feet, eager to share his discovery with Odonnl. He was halfway to the door when the stuffed whisperkit, lying in the middle of the bed, caught his eye. Dankin paused, considering what to do with it. After a moment, he decided to tuck it into his jacket for safe-keeping. Then he hurried off to find Odonnl.


	11. Interlude

**Interlude**

She watched Jacen, helpless.

_This isn't you, Jacen. What happened to my sweet, compassionate nephew?_

Callista turned away. She could not stand to see any more.

The most terrifying part was to think of how close Jacen and Benji had been just a few years ago. Thankfully, they weren't that close anymore. What had once seemed a curse was now a blessing.

* * *

She watched Benji, uncertain.

_I love you, Benji. I'm so sorry I had to leave you._

Callista wanted to feel hopeful, longed to be able to rest knowing he would be safe, now and always. But she couldn't. Not now, not quite.

* * *

She watched Luke, brokenhearted.

_I miss you, Luke. More than you'll ever know. But I can't come back to you, not for a moment. _

_Please understand._


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Six months after he'd been saved by Karrde, Dankin found himself in a mountainous wilderness with Odonnl and Aves. Aves, only a couple years older than Odonnl, was supposed to be in charge. He had a map and a compass, but Odonnl seemed unconvinced that he knew how to read either._

_"__I'm not lost," Aves grumbled. "It's just taking longer because I have to babysit you two." _

_Odonnl rolled his eyes and glanced at Dankin. "Right . . ."_

_"__I hear something," Dankin said._

_"__What is it?" Odonnl asked, straining to hear. _

_"Animals?" Dankin replied uncertainly. _

_"Could it be the guarlara?" Aves asked._

_Dankin, of course, had no idea. Like most people, he had never seen the exceedingly rare animals in real life before. He hadn't even heard of such animals existing until two days ago. Guarlara were huge, majestic, jet-black equines so coveted by the royalty of Naboo that it was illegal for anyone __outside of the royal family to ride them. There were rumors that a powerful corporate businessman had acquired a black market herd of the animals and kept them hidden deep in the mountains of Ralltiir. A rival had hired Karrde to provide proof of the herd's existence, to be used to create a scandal that would take down the businessman. Karrde had sent Aves, Odonnl, and Dankin to find the herd and take pictures._

_Dankin heard the sound, a faint braying, again. This time Aves and Odonnl heard it too._

_"__This way." Aves led the trio up a steep rise in the mountainside. From the top, they could see nearly three-hundred and sixty degrees around them._

_"__There," Odonnl pointed to a small valley several kilometers down the mountain. Small black forms could be seen moving around below._

_"__I see," Aves replied. "But from this distance I can't tell for sure what they are." Aves fiddled with the lens on the camera for a few minutes before declaring, "We need to get closer."_

_After about an hour of climbing down the mountain toward the herd, they came to a river. The river was about twenty meters across and impossible to tell how deep. The current was slow but steady._

_"__Here, I see the river on the map," Aves said. "It looks like there's a bridge a little ways upstream." _

_They wandered into the trees, far enough away that they could no longer see the river, but close enough __to hear it. Dankin was tired but didn't want to complain. He trudged along behind the others, trying his __best not to fall too far behind. Dankin was determined to carry his weight, not to be a burden to those around him. But at the moment he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep._

_Dankin jumped as Odonnl, apparently having paused to wait for him, laid a hand on his shoulder. "Not too much farther," Odonnl said with an encouraging smile. Dankin gave the brightest smile he could muster in return._

_"__Sithspawn!" Aves cried up ahead. _

_Odonnl trotted to catch up. "What is it?" _

_"That," Aves replied._

_Once Dankin caught up, he saw that Odonnl and Aves were looking forlornly at the river. Specifically at an old tree trunk that stretched across it._

_"__That's the bridge?" Odonnl asked._

_Aves looked from the map to the tree trunk and back again. "It has to be." _

_"There's no way we can cross that. It probably won't even hold our weight."_

_Aves nodded agreement. Then he turned, seeming to see Dankin for the first time. "It might not hold _our _weight," Aves began, sizing up Dankin as he spoke._

_"__No," Odonnl said. "It's way too dangerous. What if he falls?"_

_"__I won't fall," Dankin asserted. He moved quickly to the end of the tree trunk and scrambled on top. _

_"Wait, come back," Odonnl said._

_Dankin took a few steps forward, over the water. The tree felt solid beneath his feet and it was easier to keep his balance than Dankin had expected. "I'm okay."_

_"__Good job, Dankin. The herd must be close. Here, take the camera," Aves held the small device out to the younger boy. Dankin easily took the few steps to return and took the device from Aves. "This is _very _expensive. Karrde will have our heads if it gets damaged. Be careful."_

_Odonnl looked uneasy as Dankin turned back toward the water, but said nothing._

_Dankin no longer felt tired as he looped the camera strap over his head. He was pleased to finally be able to do something helpful, something no one else could do. He took three easy steps, staring at the log below. He slowed a little, aware of how far he was from the bank. Two more steps. Then another. Dankin was past the halfway point. No turning back now. Another step—_

_Dankin vaguely recalled the sensation of falling. And a sharp pain in his shin where it contacted a rock. But mostly he remembered suddenly forgetting how to breathe. Even before his head went underwater, __it was as though his lungs simply forgot how to function in the icy water. He tried desperately to swim to the bank, but he could hardly tell which direction to push to keep his head above the surface of the water, much less which direction the safety of the bank was. He felt himself being pulled by the current, scraping his legs and arms across rocks. He didn't notice the pain, and he no longer felt the cold. He simply fought the river as long as he could._

_The next thing Dankin remembered was being on the bank. And shivering. _

_"He's freezing!" That was Odonnl._

_"__He's okay." That was Aves. Aves, who was soaking wet and visibly shaking. _

_Dankin remembered being wrapped in two jackets._

_"__Take this." Aves tossed something to Odonnl. "Shoot anything that moves." _

_"What about the camera?"_

_"__Forget it. I'll tell Karrde I lost it. We need to get him back."_

_Aves tossed something else to Odonnl. "Keep us headed southwest. Got that?" _

_Odonnl's footsteps moved away as Dankin was lifted._

_Aves paused and looked down at the young boy, his face drawn with concern. "Are you okay?" Dankin nodded slowly._

_"__Don't ever do that again, Dankin. Don't you ever scare me like that again."_

* * *

"Are you sure we're being objective about this?" Odonnl asked. He was sitting in the copilot's seat on the bridge, his chair swiveled to face the passenger bench where Dankin was seated. "And we aren't just grabbing for the first lead that isn't Aves?"

"Not at all. But still, the logic stands," Dankin replied. "We've investigated everyone who complains, everyone who demands more money, everyone who seems unhappy. But what about those who have been quietly doing their own thing, flying beneath the radar?"

"And Faughn is the only one who isn't complaining?"

"Pretty much. Here, I pulled her records for the last six months. What do you see?"

Odonnl took the datapad and scrolled through. "She isn't demanding much, but she has been getting everything she wants lately. Based on this, I'd say her ship is in the best-repair of any in our fleet."

"Uh-huh. And?"

"And . . ." Odonnl glanced through each expense approval on the list. "And everything has been approved by Aves. Sith, she probably hasn't even spoken to Mara in months." Hearing the words out loud made Odonnl wince. Why hadn't they seen it before? "Which would explain why Mara hasn't picked up on her deception."

"Exactly. Now the only question is: will she show up to the meeting on Corellia?"

Odonnl shook his head slowly as he handed back the datapad. "I wouldn't count on it."

"I'm sure she doesn't want to. But she may need to. She doesn't know we're on to her yet and she's taken some money, but not enough to survive on for long."

"She has to know Mara will figure it out as soon as they meet face-to-face."

Dankin grimaced. "Except that we conveniently told her to show up with ysalamiri. Maybe she still thinks she can get away with it, safely tucked in a ysalamiri bubble."

"Right. The ysalamari. There's no way this visit to Corellia ends well, is there?"

"Let's just say I've got a bad feeling about this," Dankin replied.


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Benji entered the bridge just as _Incident Alley _exited hyperspace. Dankin, Odonnl, H'sishi, and Mara were at their respective stations.

"Almost there," Dankin announced over his shoulder as Benji approached.

Mara turned toward Benji as he settled into a passenger seat. "Once we land you're going to stick close to Odonnl. Understand?"

"Okay," Benji replied happily. He had been afraid he might be banished to his room after they landed; he much preferred the idea of spending time with his one of his new friends.

"I take it your father is meditating?" Mara continued. Benji nodded. "He just about disappears sometimes, doesn't he?" Benji was glad Mara had noticed. Sometimes his dad would get so deep in mediation Benji could barely even sense him anymore.

"So . . ." Odonnl began carefully, looking first at Benji and then Mara, "What are you going to do about Faughn?"

"I'll see if she shows for the meeting with Mirax, and then go from there." Mara glanced briefly at Benji before adding, "Hopefully Skywalker will remain in his own little world for a while. I'd just as soon not have him breathing down my neck while I'm dealing with Faughn."

* * *

The landing went relatively smoothly, despite the fact that Dankin was working with virtually no external sensors. A few minutes after touching down, Dankin approached the main boarding ramp of the ship. Even with everything else going on, there were still deliveries to be made and Dankin was on his way to contact the Corellian receiver. He pressed the button to lower the ramp. The ramp had not quite settled into place before a robed figure started up it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dankin demanded, stepping in front of the intruder. The intruder rolled his shoulders and tilted his head slightly back, causing his hood to fall away, revealing a goateed face with dark hair and piercing green eyes.

"I need to speak to Mara," the man replied as he stepped easily around Dankin.

"No," Dankin said defiantly, planting himself back in the man's path. It was not the first time they had played this game. "You are not allowed on this ship, Corran."

The intruder, Jedi Master Corran Horn, barely gave Dankin a second look. "Get out of my way," he muttered as he pushed his way past. For a moment Dankin's hand hovered over the stungun Mara insisted he always carry. But Dankin soon thought better of it and reached instead for his comlink. "Chief, we've got company."

* * *

Mara gritted her teeth as she tucked her comlink away. She did not have time for this. She felt a brief flash of annoyance at Dankin for having allowed Corran onto the ship, but she quickly dismissed the notion. Corran was her problem, not her crew's. Furthermore, Dankin would never win in a fight against Corran, and he was smart enough to step aside rather than risk getting hurt. That was, in fact, one of her crew's most appealing qualities—they were not heroic. They would not fall on their swords for something as meaningless as principle.

Mara took a deep breath before leaving the bridge to find and confront Corran, hoping to get him off her ship before he noticed Luke. She found him in the corridor just past the airlock.

"Mara." He said her name in that self-righteous, all-knowing-Jedi tone that drove her up a wall. Or maybe it wasn't his tone she was picking up on, but rather his sense. It seemed every time she saw Corran, he had fallen deeper into the Jedi-as-last-hope-and-savior-of-the-galaxy role. It was a role she found irritating on Luke, but was just plain obnoxious coming from Corran.

"We need your help, Mara," he continued.

"Get off my ship," Mara bit out, ignoring his words. "Now!"

"The Jedi are stretched way too thin. We don't even know where Luke is. It's time you joined the fight. You owe us at least this much."

"I _owe _you?" Mara rejoined. She'd intended to ignore Corran's words and simply remove him from her ship without acknowledging his tirade, only the most recent in a long line of speeches trying to cow her into the Jedi cause, but she found she couldn't keep herself from responding. "Let me be perfectly clear, Corran. I don't owe you, or your Jedi, or anyone else, one kriffing thing. And if you don't stop pushing my crew around—"

"I thought I knew you, Mara," he interrupted. "I can't believe you would just turn your back on your duty." They were now toe-to-toe, each staring into the other's eyes.

"Then I guess you don't know me at all," Mara said, carefully measuring each syllable.

After a moment Corran seemed to finally accept her response, the muscles in his jaw relaxing just noticeably. "You will regret this, Mara."

"Oh, I've got plenty of regrets, Corran. This won't even crack the top ten."

He stared levelly at her for two more seconds, then in a swirl of robes, he was gone.


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Faughn sold you the ysalamiri?" Mara repeated, hissing quietly between her teeth. If there had been any lingering doubts about Faughn's loyalty, that certainly extinguished them.

"She said you were okay with it," Mirax said innocently, her eyes shining a little too sweetly. They were standing in a large meeting room on the _Pulsar Skate_, where Mara had told Faughn to meet her with the ysalamiri. Faughn was nowhere to be found, though the ysalamiri were arrayed behind Mirax, just close enough that Mara was cut off from the Force as she spoke to her business rival. Mara studied the other woman, trying to decide if she was really that dense or if she was purposely trying to undermine her. Mara was leaning towards the latter. Not that it mattered, the harm was done just the same either way. "Where is she now?"

"I have no—"

"Faughn's ship never left. She's still in docking bay 786." Mara turned toward the new speaker, a young man who been standing in the corner, quietly looking over the ysalamiri.

"Thank you," Mara said to him, tossing a smirk at Mirax and turning to leave.

Mirax threw a warning look at her assistant before smiling back at Mara and adding, "Oh, good. Maybe you can still catch her."

"You better hope I do," Mara replied darkly.

* * *

This could not be happening. Faughn took a deep breath, trying to come up with a new plan, but knowing it was futile. She was so close! She'd been in the clear, until the Corellian port authorities told her she couldn't take off, she was grounded until they inspected her ship. All because her ship was too _light_. Not too heavy, like she'd picked up contraband. Too _light_. What kind of police state was this? No wonder the locals were rebelling.

Her crew had scattered the moment things had started to go south. But Faughn wasn't leaving. She had nothing without her ship. She would not give it up without a fight.

She hadn't wanted it to end this way. She respected, even liked, Mara. But it was a matter of survival— the company was a sinking water vessel and Faughn wasn't about to go down with it. When Aves had offered to fix her ship up in exchange for covering a few of his routes, Faughn had thought it was too good to be true. But she knew better than to ask questions and she'd cautiously gone along with it.

Everything was going according to plan. Skimming a little money with each run while Mara was too distracted to notice, Faughn was in good shape. Then when Mara set up the meeting with Mirax, it had almost all slipped away. But Faughn ran a few calculations and decided to take a gamble. If she could get to Mirax first, she knew the smuggling mogul had been itching to get her hands on the ysalamiri for a long time. Selling the ysalamiri wasn't how Faughn would have preferred to do it—Sith, she'd given them all names, she considered the ysalamiri her pets—but she'd run out of options.

Faughn glanced at her chrono. The _Starry Ice_'s computer had alerted her when the _Incident Alley _landed twenty minutes ago. She'd pled with the authorities to let her leave, offered every credit she'd saved as a bribe, but they wouldn't hear it.

Now there was nothing to do but wait for Mara to find her.

* * *

Dankin was still thinking about his confrontation with Corran when he returned to the ship to begin unloading the cargo. He knew it would have been foolish to challenge Corran, but he still felt like he should at least be able to keep his ship secure. Replaying the scene in his head, trying to decide what he could have done differently, Dankin was so focused on the earlier events that he didn't hear the scampering feet as he made his way between the stacks of crates.


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Deep in the Force, Luke wandered, searching. Callista was nowhere to be found, instead he found only memories. Memories that he knew were the happiest of his life, but felt cold and distant. They weren't just bittersweet, there was something almost . . . ominous . . . about them.

_His hands were trembling, though not because he was nervous. He might have expected to be a bit gun- shy after Mara's caustic rejection of his last proposal. But instead he was only excited. The next chapter in his life was about to begin. It had been twenty-three days since Callista had come back to him. He'd been ready to propose the minute he'd realized she'd returned for good. But somehow he'd managed to wait until the moment was perfect._

He knew there had been candlelight and sweet-smelling breezes, but now he found he couldn't immerse himself in the detail, he could only focus on the words.

_"__Callista, will you marry me?"_

_She inhaled sharply with delight. _It was delight wasn't it? It had to be. _"Yes, of course, yes!"_

No. That wasn't what she said. Not at first.

_"__Are you sure?"_

_What? How could she ask that? Or course he was sure. He'd never been more sure of anything in his life!_

_She must have sensed his confusion. "I mean, what about our children?" Oh. She was still worried about that. That, he could handle. "Are you sure you won't be disappointed if they aren't Jedi?"_

_"__Of course I won't be. It doesn't matter who or what they are, I'll love our children. Not because they're Jedi, but because they came from you," he assured her._

_"__You're certain you won't mind, not even a little, if they aren't Force-sensitive?" _

_"I promise you, that doesn't matter to me. Not one bit."_

And he meant it, he meant every word. He remembered leaning in to kiss her, but before their lips met the scene evaporated. Now it was two years later . . .

_In the delivery room, newborn Benji was nestled in Callista's arms. Mother and son gazed at each other as Luke rested his chin on Callista's shoulder and wrapped his arms around both of them. Then, for the first time, Luke touched his mind to his son's. Tiny Benji nudged back, in the way only a Force-sensitive could._

_"__He's going to be a Jedi," Luke breathed, ecstatic. "My son is going to be a Jedi."_

_Callista leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Soon she was fast asleep, with her body pressed against his he could feel her breathing becoming deep and steady. Through the Force he felt Benji growing sleepy and peacefully drifting off. His life was perfect. _Perfect? Well, as close to perfect as anything could be. There was that moment, but it was only a moment . . .

_Before she fell asleep, Callista adjusted herself so she could look back at him. She was smiling, but there was the slightest shadow in her eyes, a twinge of heartache to know she would never be connected to their son the way Luke would be_. Yes, Benji's birth had reminded her of the power she had lost. There was the slightest pang of sorrow, but that shouldn't ruin the otherwise perfect moment, should it?

Unless . . .

_"__I'll love our children. Not because they're Jedi. "Because they came from you."_

_Not because they're Jedi._

What if that shadow in her eyes wasn't sadness for herself and a future she wouldn't have? What if it was because of Luke, and the promise he'd made before they got engaged—

_"__That doesn't matter to me. Not one bit."_

He'd said it wouldn't matter to him if his child was Force-sensitive. But had it?


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Luke ended his meditation feeling even worse than when he began, something he would not have thought possible. He wasn't sure what to make of the visions. He wasn't sure what to think about anything anymore. But he did decide something—he ought to be spending more time with his son while he had the chance.

Reaching through the Force to locate Benji, Luke came to the somewhat disconcerting realization that the ship had landed while he was mediating. How long ago he didn't know, but Mara was no longer onboard. Benji was in the belly of the ship with Odonnl and seemed happy enough; Luke decided it would be best not to interrupt and risk pulling his son down into his depression.

Instead, Luke thought he would track down Mara and figure out what all he had missed while he was meditating. Both of the aliens on the crew—what were their names again?—were in the engine room, so Luke stopped to peek his head in as he passed by.

"Do you happen to know where Mara went?" he asked.

The Kerestian hesitated, but the Togorian replied, [Chieftain Jade has gone to take care of the rogue employee.]

"Rogue employee?" Luke asked.

The Kerestian answered quickly. "It's nothing. Just part of the business. She'll be back soon. In the meantime, is there anything we can help you with?"

The Kerestian had seemed uneasy as soon as he spotted Luke, and now seemed overly-eager to change the subject. "How exactly does one take care of a rogue employee?" Luke directed the question to the Togorian.

[There is only one punishment for crimes against the company,] she replied in a level voice. [Execution.]

"What? _Execution_?" Luke repeated. Mara was about to _execute _someone? Luke blinked several times, wondering if he could still be dreaming.

"Faughn knew the rules before she played the game," the Kerestian offered. Luke stared at him dumbly, his mind utterly unable to comprehend how his words could possibly justify the taking of a life in cold blood.

Luke pushed his pain and confusion to the side as he realized he had a new mission: he had to stop Mara before she did something she would regret.

* * *

"Do you want to play chase?" Benji asked.

Odonnl looked around. They had finished removing the crash webbing from the cargo and were waiting for Dankin to return with the delivery details. There really wasn't anything else to do until Dankin got back. And if it would keep Benji from thinking too much about his mother, Odonnl could hardly say no. "Just for a few minutes," he replied.

"Okay! I'll run, you chase me." Benji took off down the narrow path between the crates.

Odonnl gave Benji a few seconds head start, then took off after him.

Benji was fast. He climbed nimbly over the smaller stacks and sprinted through the open areas between the piles of cargo. Losing ground and starting to feel winded, Odonnl slowed down to strategize. Benji had been running a similar pattern with each lap, staying near the perimeter of the room, so Odonnl decided to try and cut him off at the next corner. He sliced through the middle of the room and managed to get in front of Benji as he came out of the corner. Spotting Odonnl, Benji immediately slammed on the brakes and attempted to spin back in the opposite direction. His feet got caught in the loose webbing at the base of a stack of crates, and Benji went sprawling into the stack. The stack toppled over.

Amongst the bangs and thuds of the crashing crates, Odonnl heard a low groan. "Dankin!" Odonnl exclaimed, fearing the pilot was crushed beneath the cargo.

A plaintive "Help" from beneath the pile confirmed Odonnl's fears. He rushed to begin moving the crates to unbury Dankin, though the crates were heavy and awkward to move with only one person. Odonnl had noticed Benji getting to his feet, apparently unharmed, and wondered why he wasn't helping. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Benji was standing a few meters back with his right hand stretched out before him. His eyes were half-closed in concentration. Odonnl took a step back when several of the crates began to move, to rise as though lifted by unseen hands.

Unfortunately, they didn't rise very high. Benji continued to stand with his hand outstretched, but the crates moved less than half a meter before quivering in the air and then falling back to the floor, eliciting another groan from beneath the pile. Odonnl immediately returned to pushing the boxes and called for Benji to help.

Benji stayed where he was. He took a deep breath and reached out with his hand again. This time the crates barely twitched.

"No, Benji," Odonnl snapped. "Come here and help me push." Benji complied, trotting up and getting a grip on the crate Odonnl was currently trying to dislodge. With the two of them working, soon enough crates were moved that Dankin could shove his way free.

"Are you okay?" Odonnl asked.

Dankin nodded. "Sure." He winced as he took a deep breath. "It only hurts when I breathe."

"Good. Then we better get back to work," Odonnl said with a smile, offering Dankin a hand to help him to his feet. "Are you okay, Benji? That was quite a fall you took." Odonnl turned to see Benji was sitting on the floor hugging his knees, his face turned away.

"I'm sorry," Benji squeaked, making no move to get up.

"It's okay, Benji," Dankin replied. "I'm fine. Really." He knelt beside the boy and put his arm around him.

Odonnl knelt down on Benji's other side. "Don't worry about it. It was an accident. And that's actually not the first time someone's gotten lost in the cargo," he said lightly, unsure why Benji would be so upset over a few displaced crates.

"I should have helped. I should have been strong enough to help," Benji whispered despondently. His body trembled as he fought back tears. Dankin and Odonnl exchanged a look, not certain what to say.

"Sometimes I wish I was a street rat," Benji murmured.

Odonnl had no idea what to do with such an odd confession from someone who was essentially a prince of the Republic. Dankin looked equally confused, but seemed to feel he must say something. "Why would you say that? You have a family that loves you."

"Because if I didn't have a family," Benji cried, "then I couldn't disappoint them."

"Benji—" Dankin began, but stopped short when Odonnl raised his hand. He had a feeling Benji had more to say.

After a moment Benji continued. "I was supposed to be trained as a Jedi by my cousin Jacen. But . . ." He hesitated, his lower lip quivering. "But he wouldn't train me. Because I'm too weak.

"I can't use the Force very well, not like my dad, not like the rest of my family. I try, I just, I'm too weak." Benji was openly sobbing now, his face buried in his hands.

Odonnl placed his hands on Benji's shoulders. "Listen to me, Benji. I need you to hear this." Benji took a shuddering breath as he lowered his hands and looked up to meet Odonnl's eyes. "Just because you aren't physically strong, or gifted in the Force, that doesn't make you weak. Don't you ever believe that. Not for a second."

Benji nodded solemnly and wiped at his face with the sleeve of his tunic. Odonnl pulled him into a hug. "And besides," Dankin added, "Not being trained by your cousin may turn out not to be such a bad thing after all."


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

There was no one around as Mara approached the _Starry Ice_. She went to the keypad by the boarding ramp and punched in a twelve-digit code. The ramp lowered.

_Thank you, Ghent_, Mara thought as she strode up the ramp. Years ago, Mara had told her former slicer to program every ship in the fleet with a backup passcode that only Mara knew. No one else even knew the passcode existed. Even if the ship captains had found out, Ghent assured her that it would be nearly impossible for them to disable or override it. Apparently he was true to his word.

The ship was silent except for the echo of Mara's footsteps as she made her way to the bridge. Faughn's crew must have been smart enough to disappear once they knew they were caught. But Mara knew Faughn, like a true captain, would stay with her ship until the bitter end.

The bridge was dark, but it took Mara less than a second to spot Faughn waiting in the shadows with blaster drawn.

Mara aimed her blaster. "It's over, Faughn."

_Mara, stop! _The voice sliced through the air. No, actually, it didn't. It never hit the air at all. Luke was screaming directly into Mara's mind. _Stay out of my mind, Skywalker! _Mara mentally rebuked.

"I'm not leaving," Faughn said simply.

"I wasn't planning on letting you," Mara growled. She adjusted her aim—

And the world went dark.

* * *

"Alright, drop it," Odonnl ordered as he set his end of the large packing crate on the ground. "What's wrong?" he asked as he made his way around the crate. "Do you have a broken rib?"

"No, my ribs are fine. Promise. I just can't get a grip today," Dankin replied. He took a step to the side, not liking Odonnl's scrutiny as he looked him over.

"You dropped that crate three times. Something's wrong," Odonnl said.

"What happened to your hand?" Benji asked, looking curiously down from his perch on top of another crate.

Odonnl had noticed Dankin's right hand was wrapped, but since he hadn't said anything Odonnl hadn't thought much about it. But it had been the right side Dankin dropped, all three times. "Okay, let's see it." Odonnl stepped up to Dankin. He gripped his wrist with one hand and unwrapped the cloth from his hand with the other. Odonnl sucked in his breath as he revealed Dankin's palm, bearing a deep cut, bright red and oozing. Dankin winced as the open gash was exposed to the air. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Dankin shrugged. "It's not that bad." He peered down at his hand. "Or at least it wasn't."

"Come on, we're getting this treated," Odonnl replied. "I'm sure Mirax has a medical droid or two."

"But—"

"Mara will work something out when she gets back," Odonnl cut off Dankin's objection. He pulled

Dankin forward. "Come on, Benji."

Benji hopped down and took Dankin's other arm.

* * *

Luke charged onto the bridge of the unfamiliar ship, searching for signs of life. He saw no movement and sensed no conscious beings. There were, however, two crumpled forms sprawled on the deck.

Luke knelt by the first form. He shifted her body so she was lying flat on her back, with arms and legs lying straight and natural. He brushed the flame red hair out of her eyes. "Sorry, Mara. I couldn't let you do something I knew you would regret."

Next Luke moved to other unmoving figure. She had a trim but muscular build and at least an inch or two of height on Mara, Luke noticed as he rolled her onto her side, but the Jedi Master rather doubted she'd last more than a few minutes in a fight against her boss. "I'm sorry I had to knock you out, but you have no idea how lucky you are," he muttered to the unconscious woman as he fastened a set of binders to her wrists.

It had been easy enough for Luke. Once he'd made the mental connection to Mara it was no trick at all to find the right part of her mind and send a "lights-out" signal to quickly and painlessly render her unconscious. It had been only marginally more difficult to find the mind of the other woman and do the same. The hardest part had been timing it so they would both fall unconscious at the same time.

He'd put only the gentlest pressure on Mara's mind—he only needed her to be out until he could arrive and sort through things—and already he could sense her starting to stir. He collected both blasters from the deck and positioned himself between Mara and her would-be victim. And he waited for Mara to wake up.

* * *

"Do you hear that?" Dankin asked. Odonnl didn't hear anything other than the whirring of the medical droid as it treated Dankin's hand onboard the _Pulsar Skate_.

"That voice . . ." Dankin continued.

Odonnl thought he could just barely make out what might have been the sound of voices through the wall, but he certainly couldn't identify them. Dankin, however, had always had superior hearing. "Where are you going?" Odonnl asked as Dankin pulled his arm away from the droid and headed for the door.

"I know that voice." Dankin walked up to the next door down the hall and pushed his ear up against it. The only available medical droid had been in Mirax's personal medical facility. The door Dankin was leaning against belonged to one of Mirax's private offices.

The medical droid had followed Dankin and was trying to grab a hold of his hand as Dankin tried to simultaneously push the droid away and listen at the door. Finally, he gave the droid a big push backward and opened the door.

"You're going to have to hold it together, Zakarisz. There's just no way anyone can get to you—" Mirax stopped, narrowing her eyes as she looked up from the holoscreen on her desk to regard the sudden intruders.

"Ghent," Dankin cried, rushing around Mirax's desk so he could get a better look at the holoscreen. As he stepped up beside Mirax, Dankin immediately recognized the figure on the screen as the best slicer who had ever worked for Karrde.

"Dankin?" came the uncertain reply. Uncertain, but with an edge of desperate hope.

* * *

When Mara awoke to find herself on the cold metal deck she was not happy. She stayed down for several seconds after she awakened to gather her bearings. She wasn't certain what had caused her to lose consciousness, but she knew it wasn't Faughn. And since she could sense Luke standing serenely a few meters away, she figured it must have been him. She took another moment to throw up every mental barrier she could muster, and then leapt to her feet.

"You self-righteous, meddlesome, good-for-nothing oaf!" She quickly closed the distance between herself and Luke, sparing a brief glance at Faughn who was just beginning to stir, stretched out on the deck with her hands bound behind her.

"Whoa, Mara. Calm down. I was just trying to help." Luke raised his hands defensively and took a step back. At first Mara was somewhat satisfied to see the Jedi Master backing down from her, but when she realized he had shifted to position himself more fully between her and Faughn her anger peaked again.

"I. Don't. Need. Your. Help," she bit out.

"I saved you from doing something you would regret," Luke answered calmly.

"You 'saved' me?" Mara spat, her tone dripping venom. "Since when are my actions any of your business?"

"Since you've turned into a killer. Since you've fallen back on old habits. You're better than this, Mara."

Faughn was struggling to her feet. Luke moved to help her up.

Mara was at a loss. She wanted to continue screaming at Luke, but she knew it would be futile. Moments ago she'd been furious that he was trying to control her. But now that she could plainly see that he had lost all faith in her, the anger had shriveled into nothing.

Mara started when her comlink chirped. "I'm here," Mara said into the device as she turned away from Luke as he helped to steady Faughn.

"It's Ghent," Dankin's voice crackled over the comlink. "He needs our help." Dankin explained the situation quickly.

"On my way," Mara replied curtly. She had no idea why her former employee thought that he could call on her for help, and she was not at all certain that she was willing to lend him any aid, but she hadn't liked the urgency in her normally laid-back pilot's tone. Not to mention she was eager to have something to think about that didn't involve Faughn or Luke.

* * *

"Hey, Skywalker." Faughn rolled her shoulders and shifted her wrists, trying to find a more comfortable position within in the confines of the binders.

Luke was studying Mara as she answered her comlink, but looked away to focus on Faughn.

"Check her blaster," Faughn said.

Keeping one eye on the restrained smuggler, Luke pulled out the blaster he'd found closest to Mara. He turned it over in his hand, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He'd just opened his mouth to ask Faughn what he was looking for when he noticed the setting: stun.

Faughn gave him a bemused smile. "As much as I appreciate your stepping in to provide an unexpected nap," Faughn repositioned herself to gaze thoughtfully at Mara, "I knew Jade wasn't going to kill me. She just doesn't have it in her. Not anymore."


	18. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Mara yanked the blasters away from Luke, returning hers to the holster at her side and shoving Faughn's into her belt. She grabbed Faughn by the elbow and dragged her roughly along. She never even glanced at Luke as she brushed by him.

There was a dramatic change in Mara's sense that Luke couldn't quite make sense of. She had, not surprisingly, thrown up her mental defenses. Still, Luke could feel the cadence of her emotions and it was not quite what he expected. Just a moment ago the heat of her anger had been enough for him to feel as though he was about to be enveloped in fire. Now when he reached toward her mind he felt something akin to the cold hardness of a stone cliff face.

Luke wordlessly followed Mara off the ship. There were things that needed to be discussed, but they would have to wait. Luke hadn't been able to hear what was said over Mara's comlink, but her quick stride told Luke something serious had happened.

She shoved Faughn into the speeder and then hastily slid in herself, the vehicle moving the second her foot could reach the pedal, which was a second before Luke reached the rear door. He had to run for a few strides and pull himself into the vehicle as it was accelerating.

After Luke got himself settled and several seconds of tense silence, Faughn asked, "So where are we going?"

"You're going wherever the Hoth I take you," Mara snarled.

Figuring he wasn't likely to get a better opening, Luke asked, "And what about me?"

He wouldn't have been at all surprised if she decided to kick him off her ship, and he wasn't so sure that was such a bad idea. It might be time to contact Leia and the Jedi Order, and it would be a lot easier to do that from Corellia than any other planet Mara was likely to be visiting in the near future.

She seemed to consider this for a moment before replying, "I'd leave your sorry backside on this planet if I had any confidence that you'd be able to take care of that son of yours on your own."

Faughn twisted around awkwardly to face Luke. She whispered conspiratorially and flashed Luke a toothy grin. "Oh, good. It looks like you and I get to be roommates in Mara's houndhouse for a while yet."

Luke didn't get a chance to respond because Mara slammed on the brakes pitching him forward to crash against the back the front seat. In a matter of seconds Mara was out of the speeder and halfway up the ramp of _Incident Alley_.

* * *

Dankin had already begun the startup sequence as they waited for Mara. The sensor array was still in shambles but they didn't have time to repair it. At least they wouldn't if they decided to help Ghent. Dankin didn't know what Mara would decide about that, her voice had betrayed nothing when he'd commed her.

Not a moment too soon, Mara rushed onto the bridge. "H'sishi, Pormfil, go out and keep an eye on Faughn," she ordered. "Benji, go . . . give your father a kiss for me, will you?"

Dankin raised his eyebrows. Her words had said kiss, but her tone had implied something more along the lines of a kick to the teeth.

Mara waited until she, Dankin, and Odonnl were alone on the bridge. "Explain this to me again."

"Ghent was on a mission. All the other officers died, leaving him the ranking officer. His ship was damaged but limping back to Corellia when the hyperdrive blew. Just about twenty-six parsecs directly counter-core." Dankin paused.

"In other words," Mara replied, "Almost exactly where the pirates hit us."

Dankin nodded. "It sounds like they'd lost half their shields and nearly all of their weapons. They're sitting mynocks out there.

"The Republic doesn't have any spare warships in the area and Mirax just removed her life support systems for an upgrade. It's us or no one."

Mara exhaled deeply and looked from Dankin to Odonnl. "What do you think?"

"Well," Odonnl began as he tried to filter out his feelings and focus on the purely analytical arguments, "If we get involved it could appear that we are choosing sides in the war. Ghent is essentially no one to us, having him in our debt probably won't do us any good . . ."

"Never mind all that," Mara interrupted. "I mean what do you think we should do? How do you feel about it?"

Dankin and Odonnl exchanged a look, then Odonnl nodded to Dankin. Dankin took a deep breath. "We don't owe Ghent anything. But he's our friend and I don't want him to die."

Mara stared hard at Dankin. "Are you willing to risk your own life to give him a better chance at survival?"

"I am."

Mara turned her stare to Odonnl. "And you?"

"Ghent's a good man, not to mention the best slicer in the galaxy. He's worth saving."

* * *

Benji hesitated in the corridor of the ship. He was nervous to see his father. He was afraid he would be able to tell he'd been crying, maybe he would even know what he'd said to Dankin and Odonnl earlier. Worse, maybe his father would be able to sense his failure to lift the crates and help his friend.

Benji regretted his words, he hadn't meant to suggest he didn't love his parents, or that he wished they didn't exist. It made him sick to know he'd never see his mom again, how could he have wished he never knew her? That wasn't what he meant, he thought fiercely, fighting the tears that welled in his eyes. He had to get a grip on himself before he found his father.

Wrapping his arms tightly around himself, Benji wished he had his stuffed whisperkit with him. Niki was her name, after his late cousin Anakin. The plush animal had once belonged to Anakin, and Anakin had given her to Benji the day he was born.

Benji treasured Niki because she reminded him of the cousin he had never met but had always known. Despite having died shortly after Benji was born, Anakin's name was mentioned often when Benji was growing up. People had often commented on how much Benji looked like Anakin, how much Benji reminded them of his older cousin. Benji had relished the comments. He knew Anakin had been a hero, he could hear the reverence in their voices when they said his name. As he grew older the comparisons had lessened. At some point in the last few years they had stopped completely, from all except his Uncle Han.

Suddenly aware of how long he had lingered on the ship despite Mara's instructions, Benji headed for the boarding ramp in the rear of the ship, wishing intensely that he had Niki with him. The whisperkit reminded him of Anakin's strength, and sometimes when he squeezed her tight he could feel a glimmer of that strength in himself.

* * *

_Three years ago, the _Etherway_, under the command of Fynn Torve, failed to make a delivery. All contact with the ship was lost for several days. Everyone feared the worst. Then the ship's distress signal was located, coming from a dingy port dozens of parsecs off course._

_Mara had been riding along on the _Starry Ice _with Faughn and they diverted to check on the wayward ship. Suspicions were raised when the _Etherway _would not respond to repeated hailing. Blasters at the ready, Mara and Faughn had approached the ship. The boarding ramp was down and a ruckus could be heard onboard. Mara and Faughn hurried onto the ship._

_Faughn had feared the _Etherway _had been attacked, or perhaps a disease had swept through the crew. At first it was not clear to Faughn that those things hadn't happened. Crewers were strung about the deck semi-conscious, a few unknown beings among them. There were broken bottles and ripped open crates, the place was generally trashed. It reeked of alcohol, vomit, and a dozen other odors Faughn didn't want to place._

_In the middle of it all was Torve, unsteady on his feet, his eyes so dilated they looked like belonged on a skrat. It wasn't until she noticed the residue of glitterstim dusting his face and clothes that Faughn understood what was going on. There had been no attack and any illness was self-induced. Karrde didn't often run spice these days, but apparently he'd assigned a load to Torve. And from the looks of it, Torve had sampled the cargo._

_Sampled, decided he liked what he found, and turned it into an all-out spicefest._

_Torve, so far out of his mind that he probably didn't remember his own name, drew his blaster. He yelled something incomprehensible at Mara and opened fire. His aim was wild and blaster bolts bounced off the ceiling and walls, never coming near Mara or Faughn._

_Faughn had braced herself, fully expecting Mara to drop Torve like the mangy scumsucker he was. But she didn't. She didn't blast him or even stun him. Faughn knew stunning a man that spiced could easily result in death—the stun blast could easily overwhelm a system already compromised by the effects of spice. Still, Faughn would gladly have shot Torve herself except Mara was already on him, wresting his blaster away from him._

_Once Mara had Torve's blaster, Faughn relaxed and holstered her own weapon. Fortunately, Mara __was not so quick to let her guard down. Torve came at Mara with a vibroblade. Mara reacted instantly, shoving her palm into Torve's nose, the most basic self-defense move there was._

_An awful crack resounded in the cabin and Torve fell to the deck. The bone shards from his shattered nose musty have found their way into his brain because Torve never got back up._

_It had not been so much Mara's reluctance to open fire on Torve—though that had helped—as her reaction to his death that had given Faughn the confidence to face Mara. It was the only time Faughn had ever seen Mara visibly shaken. Her hands trembled as she carried the body away. Her eyes were distant as she fired each member of the sobered-up crew. And when they returned to base, Karrde had told Mara to take some time off. She complied without objection._

A formidable assassin she may once have been, but now Mara Jade was no more a cold-blooded killer than the Jedi currently sitting in the backseat. Speaking of which, Faughn wondered briefly if Skywalker would stop her if she tried to escape. Then she quickly dismissed the notion of escape as pure folly. It was clear Mara wasn't going to hurt her, and being shipless and creditless on Corellia was practically a death sentence. With the company unraveling, it was just possible that if she stuck around Faughn might be able to prove herself useful enough for Mara to forgive her and eventually let her go. At this point, Faughn would rather be a prisoner on a fast ship than be liberated with no way off the planet.


	19. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"I know you're really mad," Luke ventured.

Mara slowly looked up from the pilot's console on the bridge of _Incident Alley _and turned towards Luke. At least he'd waited until they made hyperspace on their way to rescue Ghent. "Picked up on that did you?"

Faughn snickered from the passenger bench in the back of the bridge. Her hands were still bound, but she was otherwise unrestrained. The binders were just for show anyway, Faughn had nowhere to go. Mara would have to take them off soon; she would need all the help she could get once they found Ghent. Especially since the rest of her crew was currently on the _Starry Ice. _But for now Mara was content to continue the mild annoyance the binders gave Faughn.

Luke continued. "I'm sorry I had to do what I did, but I was afraid—"

"You _had _to do what you did?" Mara cut in. "My actions, whether you like them or not, are none of your concern."

"When there are lives at stake, it is _always _my concern."

"Remind me again—who died and made you divine arbiter of all justice in the galaxy?"

Luke stood up and took a step toward Mara. His eyes narrowed and he stared hard at her as he spoke. "As a Jedi I am obliged to intervene if I can prevent bloodshed." He took a breath and added, "I suppose that's probably a difficult concept for someone who's never cared about another person for a moment of her life."

Mara had been trying to control her temper up to this point, but now she longer cared. If Luke wanted to have it out, they were going to have it out. "And how's this Jedi obligation nonsense working out for you? Aside from the dead wife and a son you don't even know?"

She braced herself for a scathing retort. But it never came.

For several moments Luke was silent. Mara had probably crossed a line with that last comment. When Luke finally replied, he'd dropped his gaze to the floor and his voice was quiet. "Just because you know exactly where it hurts the most, do you always have to go there?"

"You push my buttons, I push yours back. That's the way this relationship works," Mara replied. Her voice was subdued, her tone matter-of fact.

Luke nodded. "You're right." He sank against the console and after a moment he looked up at Mara. "But is that the way it has to be?"

Mara's check twitched. Sith, she hated to apologize. She took a deep breath, but hadn't quite found the words before Luke spoke again.

"Never mind," he growled. "Someday I'll learn to just stop trying with you."

Mara swallowed her apology. "You lost interest in me fifteen years ago."

"Me? Lose interest in you? You made it pretty clear you didn't want anything to do with me. I finally took the hint and let you go. And never heard from you again"

Mara stared hard at Luke. Her instinct was to deny any responsibility, to turn the accusation back on him. It would be easy, natural, to tell him it was his fault, to make him feel bad for their fractured relationship. But then again, it wasn't like she had any pride left to lose at this point. Why not just tell the truth?

"I never thought you would give up on me," Mara said quietly into the growing silence. Luke narrowed his eyes but Mara continued before he could interrupt. "I don't blame you. I would have done the same. Stang, I would have given up on me the first time I bolted from your academy. But you didn't. You

kept inviting me back, kept telling me I could be Jedi. I'd tell you I wasn't interested and a few months later you'd be back again, like I hadn't already rejected you a hundred times. It was annoying as hell." Mara tried to summon a smile, or at least a softening of her features. She couldn't, so she pressed on.

"But I got used to it. To you. Always being there. And it was sorta nice, having someone with so much blind faith in me. Then Nirauna happened and I finally found a way to push you away for good."

"Mara, I . . ." Luke began, then stopped. "Do you really believe that?" His voice was filled with the earnestness only a farmboy could muster. Mara gave a vague sort of nod and turned her face away from him.

"You had Callista. You had a million other things going on. I was stupid to think you might have time for a lost cause like me."

"But, Corran . . ." Luke trailed off.

Mara could sense his mind churning, trying to fit together pieces that didn't match. "What does Corran have to do with this?" Mara couldn't help but snarl the name, just a little.

"He says he's been all but begging you to join us and you won't give him the time of day."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to go anywhere for Corran."

Luke placed a gentle hand on Mara's shoulder and pulled her around to face him. The obvious question was on his lips, she could read it in his eyes: _What if I had asked? Would you have come for me?_

Yet somehow, miraculously, he didn't ask it. "I never gave up on you Mara." Luke must have mistaken her relief for skepticism because he continued, "Corran kept telling me it was no use, you just weren't interested. I told him to keep trying. And trying. So you would always know you had a place among the Jedi. I didn't approach you because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I knew it was my fault things were weird between us. I never stopped believing in you, not for a second."

Mara's eyes flicked to Faughn, who had been sitting quietly by throughout the conversation. Mara wanted to believe Luke, but she couldn't. He may have intended to tell her the truth, he may even have believed his own words. But the fact was a few hours ago he'd knocked her unconscious rather than let her deal with her own problems her own way. "I'm happy to hear that," Mara lied. Luke was still recovering from the loss of Callista and a million other things. He didn't need to worry about trivialities like Mara's hurt feelings. "I need to check on the engines," she said, dismissing herself from the bridge.

* * *

Luke stared blankly after Mara. He knew that wasn't the proper end to the conversation.

He turned to Faughn. " ' A son you don't even know.' What did she mean by that?"

Faughn held her hands out in front of her and looked away. "I am not getting in the middle of this." She bolted for the doorway before Luke could stop her.

Luke scowled as a memory bubbled to the surface. Many years ago, he had asked his nephew Jacen to train Benji. Jacen had flatly refused. So then Luke ordered Kyp Durron to train him. Kyp too refused.

_"__Please, Master. Try to understand. I don't want Benji to get hurt."_

_"__I don't want him to be hurt either; that's why I need you to train him, to teach him the ways of the __Force."_

_Kyp had shaken his head slowly in response. "You still don't see it, do you?"_

_"__No, I don't see why my oldest student would refuse what I ask of him! If you can't follow my orders, I __may have to rethink your position within the Order."_

_There was pain in Kyp's eyes when he replied, "Very well." But there was a seething frustration when he turned and muttered under his breath, "It must be hell not knowing your own son."_

How could Kyp and Mara, two people who had never in their natural lives agreed on anything, turn the same damning accusation on him?


	20. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Resting in the pilot's seat of the _Starry Ice_, Dankin gazed at the silky white fur of the stuffed whisperkit. On a whim he'd set the toy on the console before him, as though it could help guide him through space. He needed to return the stuffed animal to Benji, but for the moment he was enjoying the silent company of the creature.

[I have a question.]

Startled, Dankin looked up. H'sishi could move surprisingly quietly for a being of her size. [What pirates paint their ships black?]

"I don't know of any off-hand. Why?"

[The child. He said the ships that attacked us were painted black.]

"I hadn't noticed. That's peculiar." Pirates tended to operate with stolen or salvaged equipment, including ships. He couldn't think of any reason why they would take the time to repaint anything.

Dankin's thoughts were interrupted as Odonnl entered the bridge. Benji was close on his heels. "What's wrong?" Dankin asked. Benji looked panicked and close to tears.

"He wanted to see you," Odonnl offered. Benji threw his arms around Dankin. "I had a bad dream," Benji mumbled into Dankin's jacket.

Dankin put his arm around Benji and handed the whisperkit to him. "It's okay. It was just a dream. It's over now."

"Line creepers," Odonnl said suddenly. The others looked curiously at Odonnl. "Ghent said he was having trouble with line creepers. Why would he bring up such a minor detail?"

"I don't know," Dankin replied hesitantly. "Some think line creepers are a bad omen. Do you think Ghent could have been trying to warn us about something?"

"_Sithspawn_." Odonnl chewed his lip. "This could be bad. This could be really bad." Odonnl pressed the button for the hypercomm. "I'm calling Mara."

The others nodded a silent agreement.

* * *

Mara stood just inside the engine room, staring blankly into the glow of the hyperdrive and trying not to panic. Mara had thought she was being logical, rational when she made the plan. Luke could fly a ship without sensors—Luke _was _a sensor, probably a better sensor than any of the electronics that had been blown to pieces days before. And Mara knew the ship, knew its limits and capabilities like she knew her own heartbeat. And they could connect through the Force, they'd done it before. Luke would guide them, alert them to danger, and Mara would control the ship. Meanwhile, Dankin, Odonnl, and the rest of the crew would lend support in the _Starry Ice_. It would work, if not for that one detail.

When Mara and Luke had connected through the Force on Nirauan, there had been no room for secrets. They had known each other's minds like they knew their own. If that happened again, Luke would know all her secrets. Including those about Callista's last words and Jacen's hidden identity. The middle of the battle was not the time Mara wanted to drop that bombshell.

* * *

_We are _so _kriffed_, Faughn thought as she tiptoed through the corridor. Jade and Skywalker appeared to each independently be about to lose it. She definitely needed backup.

Faughn slipped into the communications pod and fired up the hypercomm. It took a few minutes to connect and even then the signal was fuzzy and intermittent. But Faughn was just able to make out a voice on the other end.

"Thank Corell," she sighed into the comm. "I really need your help…."

* * *

"We need to talk about Callista," Mara announced when she found Luke in the cargo hold.

"I know. I think I'm beginning to understand," he replied.

Mara was a bit surprised, but decided to go with it. "Yes?"

"Benji isn't meant to be a Jedi. She knew it. She knew it all along. Everyone knows it. You know it."

Mara was silent for a moment; this was not the conversation she'd planned on having.

"Why did no one tell me?"

"Would you have believed them if they did?" Mara asked carefully.

"No, probably not," Luke confessed. "That's why—" Luke grabbed Mara and pulled her toward him. Surprised and confused, Mara didn't fight back. And then she was in Luke's mind. There was something he wanted to show her. A memory.

_Luke was flipping through a sheaf of flimsies, reading through the notes and status reports tracking Benji's progress since the last time Luke had been home. "I've been gone nearly two months and all he's done in that time is play on the computer? The only thing worthwhile he's done is spend a few hours on the flight simulator."_

_"__But his cryptology scores—" Callista began._

_"__And he hasn't even beaten it yet?" Luke continued, exasperation edging its way into his voice. "At his age Jaina could have completed this simulation in her sleep!"_

_"__Jaina?" Callista repeated quizzically._

_"__Yes, Jaina Solo—Benji's cousin? Jedi Knight and Commander of Rogue Squadron?" Luke replied, his exasperation now full-blown._

_"__I know who she is! What I don't know is why you're comparing Benji to her." Callista's voice had that rare harsh edge, a tone it took on only when they argued. A tone he had heard all too often lately, ever since Kyp had refused to take Benji as a padawan._

_Luke breathed deeply. He hated fighting with Callista and wanted to end the argument quickly. But he couldn't compromise his son's training—it was far too important. When he continued his voice was calm. Calm, but very serious. "Benji is to be a Jedi. You're not just his mother—you are his Master now. You're supposed to be teaching him the ways of the Force. Leave the cryptology nonsense to Republic Intelligence. Please?"_

_Callista nodded, layers of hurt and frustration etched on her face. He knew the emotions were there, but he couldn't sort through them. Why was this so hard for her? After all, it was her idea in the first place to become Benji's Master. Why wasn't she helping Benji progress the way he should? "Look, I know Benji's young. I know I'm asking a lot of him._

_"__It's just that, I was nineteen before I began my Jedi training. And when I think of all that time wasted, of all the lives I could have saved if I'd only learned how to use the Force sooner—maybe I could have saved my aunt and uncle. Maybe I could have changed the tide of the war earlier. Maybe . . ." Luke trailed off, knowing that line of thinking was futile. He took a step closer to Callista and pulled her close to him._

_"__I just don't want Benji to have the same regrets I do," he said softly._

_"__Alright," Callista relented. She leaned into him, resting her head against his chest. "We'll stop the cryptology and focus on the Force exercises."_

"I was so stupid." Luke released Mara and stepped back. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Breathless, Mara stared at Luke. She wanted to be offended, or at least annoyed, that he would spring such a personal memory on her. But he was obviously in such a crisis that she only felt sorry for him. Especially since that crisis was bound to get much worse.

* * *

Stepping away from Mara, Luke suddenly felt entirely unbalanced and dropped unceremoniously to the floor. Seeking solid ground, he pressed his palms hard against the floorboards.

Luke had always hated it when people compared him to his father. Yet that was exactly what he had done to Benji, expecting his son to follow in his footsteps, measuring his son's progress against that of his niece and nephews.

_How could I not see how foolish I sounded? No wonder Callista resisted every time I made plans for our son._

Benji was Force-sensitive. But that didn't mean he was destined to be the galaxy's most powerful Jedi yet. Though his son had access to the Force, that didn't mean he could feel it and manipulate it the way Luke could. Benji was young, so his connection to the Force still had time to grow. But what if it didn't? What if he was always limited to just barely tasting the power Luke could drink in so easily?

Years ago, Luke had sworn it wouldn't matter to him whether his child was Force-sensitive.

But it had.

The day Benji was born, Luke had decided his son would be a Jedi like himself. He'd set his child's destiny in stone and had never looked back.

It was about time he broke that stone.

* * *

Half an hour after firing up the hypercomm, and the crew had heard nothing but the grating hiss of static from the device.

"It's no use," Dankin declared, reaching across Odonnl to flip off the hypercomm switch. "_Incy_'s comm was probably damaged in the last attack."

"So what are we going to do?" Pormfil asked. "We can't fly right into a trap."

"I don't see that we have a choice," Dankin replied. "We can't just leave Mara and Luke to go it alone. _Especially _if it's a trap."

"But Mara and Luke are not our only consideration," Odonnl said softly, looking at Benji, who was huddled between Pormfil and H'sishi on the passenger bench, clutching his stuffed animal.

Dankin swore under his breath. "You're right. Maybe we should turn around."

"No," Benji said steadily. Strangely, the panic that had seemed about to consume him minutes before appeared to have dissipated. "We have to keep going." His tone was more forceful than Dankin had ever heard it before.

"But Benji," Odonnl replied, "We can't just walk into a trap. You said yourself you had a bad feeling about it."

"I know," Benji replied quickly. "But it's gone now. I want to see my dad. We have to keep going."

"We still may be able to reach Mara with the comm laser as soon as we hit realspace," Pormfil offered. He shrugged. "That's our best chance to warn her."

"Okay," Odonnl said looking around to each member of the crew in turn. "We'll continue on and try to reach Mara as soon as we break hyperspace. Any objections?"

Pormfil, H'sishi, and Dankin shook their heads. Benji stood up, an odd look in his eyes. "I'm going to my room," he announced and left the bridge quickly.

Dankin watched him leave and then turned slowly to Odonnl. "Do you remember Ralltiir?"

"Of course," Odonnl replied. "Why do you bring it up?"

"When I fell in that river, I was sure I was going to die. At first I was terrified. But, after a while, I felt . . . calm. At some point, once I was certain death was coming, I wasn't so scared—what good would fear do me?" Dankin's eyes had been focused on the mottled view of hyperspace just beyond Odonnl. They came to focus on Odonnl as he finished his sentence. "How did Benji seem to you just now?"

"Calm," Odonnl responded. "Very calm." Dankin nodded. "That's what I thought too."

* * *

They were sitting together on the deck of the cargo hold, talking. Just talking. Like two people who had known each other for half their lives. Like two people who had a lot in common and a way of understanding each other that ran deeper than words.

"It was selfish, really," Luke confessed. "I wanted to spend more time with Benji. I figured when he began his Jedi training in earnest I'd be able to see him a lot more often. Before long we'd be fighting side-by-side, the way I couldn't with Callista.

"The worst part is, I think sometimes, on some level, I ascribed the same motives to Callista. I thought she was avoiding training him as a Jedi so he would stay home with her." Luke sighed deeply. "How could I be so blind?"

"Sometimes you don't see what's right in front of you until it's too late," Mara replied. For several moments she looked around the ship, taking in each detail. She knew the ship as well as she knew her own body. Which is what made her next words so painful. "I hate my job," she said quietly.

Luke blinked, surprised by Mara's words. She'd worked hard to get where she was, he'd always assumed it was exactly where she wanted to be.

"But I can't give up now," she continued. "There's too many people depending on me."

Luke nodded, not in agreement, but wanting to encourage her to continue. "I thought this is what you wanted to do. What Karrde trained you for."

"It is what I trained for. But I never wanted the responsibility. You weren't too far off when you said I'd never cared about another person."

"Mara, I was out of line—"

"I've never _wanted _to care for anyone else," Mara cut in. "I've never been comfortable with people depending on me. But I do care. There are people—more than a few—who I can't possibly let down. I don't know how I ended up here. I wish I only had to care about myself. I'm good at taking care of myself."

"You may not like it, but you're pretty good at taking care of others. Your crew adores you. You've been a better parent to Benji than I have these last few weeks."

"Luke, I…" Mara trailed off, so he continued.

"You're not the only one who ended up somewhere they never thought they'd be. 'Grand Master'? What does that title even mean? It's just…I can't believe how I squandered my time with Callista. What's the point in fighting a war if you can't even enjoy a moment of peace?"

"It's not too late," Mara said. "You could walk away. You could spend the time with Benji you never got to spend with Callista."

Luke furrowed his brow. "Maybe."

"Definitely," Mara corrected. "You're a Grand Master, who's going to stop you?"

Luke took Mara's hand and held it gingerly between his own. He looked her straight in the eye and asked, "Would you come with me if I did?"

Mara opened her mouth, but before she was able to form words, Faughn appeared.

"You ready to take these binders off yet?" the blonde smuggler asked, thrusting her bound wrists toward Mara. "We break hyperspace in fourteen minutes."

* * *

**Author Note:** Thank you very much to everyone who has read, followed, or favorited this story!


	21. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Ghent had faith in Mara. Absolute faith. It was about all he had at the moment.

The being across from him—who was not Jacen Solo, Ghent was certain of that—peered at the slicer through bright yellow eyes, rimmed in red. "You truly think she can save you, don't you?" he asked. "Even after you've led her right into a trap?" When Ghent did not respond, he continued. "Her blood's on your hands. Mara's and anyone else's who is foolish enough to try and come for you."

"No," Ghent said softly but defiantly.

The yellow-red eyes hardened. "What did you say?"

Ghent stared evenly back, feeling as though he could fall into the abyss swirling deep within those eyes. Ghent had met Jacen Solo once. He had felt honored to share the company of the bright-eyed young Jedi Knight. The monster before him bore no resemblance. Caedus he had called himself, but Ghent had no intention of calling the fiend by name. "No. Mara will destroy you, and all those loyal to you if she has to."

"Fool," was the snarled response, uttered as he turned on his heel and stalked away. Leaving Ghent alone. Completely alone.


	22. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Almost exactly forty-eight hours after Luke had asked Mara to come with him, to leave both their past lives behind for an uncertain future together, he still didn't have a formal answer. At the moment, however, neither the past nor the future held any interest at all to Luke. His only concern was the present.

"_Benji!_" Tears filled his eyes as he raced to his son. Benji was unconscious in a stranger's arms. No, not a stranger. It was Aves, Mara's second-in-command. Luke couldn't recall having met the man before, but he recognized him instantly.

"The doctor thinks it's mostly superficial," Aves said as Luke wrapped his arms beneath his son. "He's in better shape than the others."

Luke nodded an acknowledgment and carried Benji to a nearby form couch, determined to make his own evaluation of his son's health.

Luke wasn't certain why they'd come straight to Mirax's private med center. He didn't doubt that the medical team was top of the line, but the facilities were limited. He was debating rushing Benji to the nearest public emergency center, but Benji seemed stable enough that he could at least look him over before making a decision.

Benji had many shallow cuts and bruises all over his body. "What happened to him?" Luke asked. He doubted Aves would know the whole story, but he may have a few more details than Luke. When there was no response, Luke looked over his shoulder. Aves was gone, the hallway now empty. Undoubtedly, Aves had gone to find the others, the members of Mara's crew who were in critical condition.

A quick scan through the Force did not reveal Benji to have any serious injuries. There were deep bruises and a badly sprained ankle, but nothing that wouldn't heal with a bit of rest. Luke exhaled deeply as tears ran down his cheeks. He was so relieved he was feeling light-headed, giddy even. He laughed softly as he silently whispered, _He's going to be alright_.

His words were intended for Mara. Somehow in the confusion he hadn't noticed when she left his side. Having the uneasy feeling that she had not heard his words, he reached out to her in the Force. Despite the urgency and distress all around, she was not difficult to find. For she was deep in the Force, drawing more power from it than he'd ever known her to before.

* * *

Dankin sucked air between his teeth and his entire body went rigid with dread. The movement shot fresh agony through a dozen wounds. He squeezed his eyes shut wishing it would all just end. He couldn't fight it, he knew he shouldn't fight it. But he couldn't take any more pain. He tried to scream, he tried to pull away. His efforts were barely noticed by the hands holding him in place.

"Wait," a voice, a miraculous voice, interrupted.

The doctor released his grip on Dankin's arm, one hand above the elbow, one hand below the shoulder. "This break needs to be set immediately. We may already be too late," the doctor said.

"It's not too late. I'll set it," the miraculous voice, Mara's voice, continued. Dankin opened his eyes to see her squeezing herself between the doctor and him. She was alive, and she was here. If she was here, Dankin knew everything would be okay.

There was a brief, horrible moment, when he thought maybe this wasn't real. Maybe he wasn't out, maybe he was still _there_. There, in the hands of the monster who saw Dankin's pain not as his own but as a way to hurt Benji. The fear passed the moment Mara touched him. To say her caress was soothing was an incredible understatement. She was using the Force to heal him, he knew. Her touch on his forehead, his chin, his chest, soothed the burning so intense he had lost consciousness several times already. Lost consciousness only to fall into a nightmare, a vicious nightmare that, unlike the usual, was fueled by an evil external to himself. The only escape from those nightmares had been the physical agony inflicted by a madman.

When Mara's hands grasped his arm, instead of bracing with fear he melted into her touch. With Dankin's body fully relaxed, and the Force flowing off Mara in healing waves, setting the broken bone took only a moment.

He wanted to say something to her, to speak despite the rawness of his throat, but instead of opening his mouth he closed his eyes and sank into sweet, dreamless oblivion.

* * *

"They're going to be okay." Mara was sure Luke said the words as much to reassure himself as to reassure her. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the wounded forms in front of her. Mirax's med center was top of the line but small. Dankin and Benji were sharing a room, each deeply submerged in a healing trance. Odonnl was in surgery. They didn't know if they'd be able to save the eye. H'sishi and Pormfil had blaster wounds that were being treated with bacta.

Luke and Mara were unscathed. They hadn't made it to Ghent's ship. The engines failed mere parsecs away, and so they'd sat helpless while Darth Caedus tortured and maimed their loved ones.

"Ghent's awake," a soft voice startled Mara. "He'd like to see you," the voice, belonging to her second- in-command, continued. "I'll stay with them." Mara responded wordlessly, heading towards Ghent's room. She was not ready to speak to Aves. Not too long ago, she'd thought he might be planning a hostile takeover of the company. It turned out his disappearance was not because he was embroiled in a scheme to undermine her, but rather because he was doing his best to take care of her. She felt bad enough about having so severely misjudged his intentions, but the fact that he'd flown to the rescue while she'd sat powerless was almost unbearable.

Luke appeared at her side a few feet from Ghent's door. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We did what we could."

"It wasn't much," she replied.

"It was enough," Luke said. He said it confidently enough that Mara nodded slightly in agreement. Mara had told Luke what Callista had communicated to her about Jacen as soon as they realized the engines would not be getting back online. It took some time, but eventually through their combined strength in the Force they were able to contact Darth Caedus. They couldn't stop him, but once he realized Luke would not be coming he seemed to lose interest. He ceased the torture, stopped his attempts to goad Benji into joining him on the Dark Side. It had never been about Benji, or the victims of his torture. His only interest had been in challenging Luke, taking down his former Master. The Sith Lord was gone by the time Aves arrived.

"Mara!" Ghent exclaimed as soon as she entered the room.

"How are you?" she asked, walking to his bedside.

"Not bad," he replied, reaching out to her. She bent down to him, allowing him to embrace her. She gave him a few pats on the back before straightening. "I'm quitting my job," he added matter-of-factly.

"Why would you do that?"

"I'm a slicer, Mara. But somehow I ended up in charge of that whole ship. And…I'm just a slicer." Already Ghent was starting to tear-up; Mara didn't want to make him continue.

"It's okay. I understand. I'm sure you'll find something else."

"With you," Ghent said it as more of a statement than a question. Mara hesitated—she been hoping to reduce the number of people depending on her, not increase it. "You'll need a slicer," he added. "Why not me?"

Mara blinked, at a loss for what to say. She glanced to Luke, standing in the doorway. He shrugged.

"They must not have told you yet," Ghent said, relief in his voice. "When they do, tell them I've already volunteered."

* * *

Several minutes later, as Luke carefully closed the door to the room where Pormfil and H'sishi were floating in bacta, having stopped briefly to check on the crewers on his way back to Benji's room, Luke sensed Corran approaching. And he was not happy.

"Where in the nine hells have you been?" Corran demanded.

"I'm sorry, Corran. I've had a lot on my mind."

"So you just walk away from the Council in our moment of crisis? The time we need you most, you just disappear?"

"Is the Council ever _not _in crisis?" Luke asked mildly. Then, sensing the flare in Corran's emotions, Luke added, "I know the Council was in good hands. Better hands than mine."

"Don't give me that," Corran snarled. "We need to determine a new strategy. Saba has suggested—"

"I'm sure you will come up with something great," Luke cut in. "But it won't include me. I'm retiring, Corran. Effective immediately."

"Are you out of your mind? You created the Council! The new Order, all of it is your doing! You will not desert us now."

"I am sorry. But my decision is final. My son is most important and I need to focus on him." Luke dug into his pocket and presented a datachip to Corran. "My last actions as Grand Master are recorded here. You may play it at the next meeting of the Jedi Council."

Corran's jaw was clenched tight and he was seething emotion into the Force. But he must have known Luke would not be swayed. "Very well," Corran said with painfully forced calm, accepting the datachip. "You're retired. But the very least you owe us is to stay around long enough for us to get a handle on the current situation and elect a new Grand Master."

"No. If I stay around for one more crisis, at the end of that you will ask me to stay for just one more. If I don't make a clean break now I never will. You will be fine without me, and the sooner you start proving that to yourself, the better."

And suddenly, as he heard his own words, understanding dawned on Luke. He understood perfectly why Callista had not come back to him. She knew how much he loved her, and he knew how much she loved him. There were no last words that needed to be said, no final goodbye that could make things any easier. And if she had come back to him, even once, he would not have been willing to let her go again.

Corran was speaking again, but Luke did not hear another word.

_I understand_, he whispered into the Force.


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Good, Benji. I'm glad you're awake." Mirax Terrik entered the room and walked toward Benji's bed. He was sitting up, playing a game on a datapad. The game helped to distract him, to keep him from thinking about the last few days. Dankin had taken the brunt of the physical damage, but the mental trauma had been directed primarily at Benji. And yet, despite the horror they had experienced, everyone had made it out alive. That victory made everything bearable. He had faced the demon from his nightmares and he had survived.

Mirax's eyes flicked to Dankin's still unconscious form as she passed. "I have something for you," she continued, hefting a large fabric box onto the foot of Benji's bed.

Mirax was a friend of Benji's parents. Benji knew she was married to Corran Horn, a powerful Jedi within the Order. Benji thought she had even babysat him once or twice, when he was younger. All this meant Benji had no fear of Mirax. However, he did not remember her ever giving him a gift before and he vaguely knew that Mara found her untrustworthy. He noticed that the side and top of the box had mesh panels and Benji could see a flicker of something within. This was not the flowers or small toys that were usually given to acquaintances in the med ward.

She seemed to pick up on his uncertainty because she added, "Here, I'll open it for you." She unzipped the mesh panel on the top and reached inside the box. For a moment Benji thought she had pulled out a stuffed animal. It was a smoke grey ball of fluff, much resembling Niki in a different color. But as Mirax set the fluff next to Benji he immediately saw that this whisperkit was not like Niki at all. This whisperkit was alive.

The creature sniffed Benji carefully, and then rubbed her head against his chest, her long ears brushing against his chin.

"She likes you," Mirax said with a smile. She then reached in and removed another creature from the box. This one was a fiery red and Mirax set her right in front of the box, a bit away from Benji. "This one takes a bit to warm-up to you," she explained.

"We found them stowed away in the cargo hold of my ship a few weeks ago. They reminded me of…well, Jysella used to have a kit…" Mirax trailed off, pain clear in her eyes and voice. After a moment of composure, she continued quickly. "I just didn't have the heart to abandon them. But they can't stay here; this base is no place for pets."

The grey whisperkit was curled up in Benji's lap, purring audibly. He delighted in the sound as he stroked her soft fur. "I don't know. My dad…"

"Nonsense," Mirax said, cutting him off. "I'm sure your dad will be fine. In fact, I believe he may be waiting for me now—I'll let him know." Mirax headed out into the hallway, pausing in the doorway to add, "You better start thinking of names. As soon as you name them, they're yours."

* * *

Mara was seated in the middle of a long table in a conference room adjacent to the med center. Aves was a few seats down, and across from her were a couple of officials in NRI uniforms. What the NRI was doing here she didn't know. Nor did she know how Aves figured into any of this. She still wasn't sure where he'd been before flying to the rescue at Faughn's request. Clearly, there was a lot more going on than she had yet been let in on. The meeting seemed far too formal to be an impromptu response to the last mission, yet Mara was sure Mirax had not been planning it when she first came by a few days ago.

Luke entered and sat beside her, soon followed by Mirax who sat next to the NRI officials.

"What's going on?" Mara demanded.

"Patience," Mirax replied. "You of all people know he likes to make an entrance."

Mara's eyes narrowed, she didn't know who Mirax was referring to and was in no mood for games. She was about to get up and leave, preferring to stay with the injured than deal with Mirax for another moment, when a door in the back of the room swept open.

Standing in the doorway was the last person Mara expected to see. But also the person whose appearance was never a surprise. Talon Karrde.

* * *

The red whisperkit had sniffed around Benji and allowed him a few pats on her head, but then had jumped off his bed to explore the room.

The grey whisperkit had reacted by placing her front paws on Benji's chest and rubbing her face against his cheek.

"Jealous, are you?" Benji asked with a laugh.

The whisperkit mewed in response and he noticed for the first time that she had a perfect triangle of white over her nose. "Snip," he said thoughtfully. "What do you think of that name?"

She mewed again, in what Benji decided was agreement. "Snip it is, then. Just one more name to go," he said, visually searching the room for the other kit. He found her curled up on Dankin's stomach, one eye closed, the other half open as though keeping watch.

"Well, Snip," Benji said softly, "I don't think I can name her. I don't think she's mine."

* * *

"I will explain everything," Karrde said as he entered the room, preempting any questions from Mara. "Starting with Aves." Karrde nodded acknowledgement to the blonde-haired smuggler. Aves did not seem to be the least bit surprised to see Karrde. Apparently Mara was even more out of the loop than she realized. "I'm not sure how much you know, but I know he has been out of contact with you for a while. That is my fault.

"You see, Aves approached me, requesting assistance. He saw that the company's ranks were getting thin. Knowing that you were busy with more important things, he intended to hire me as a sort of independent contractor to help find more suitable employees and replenish the ranks. At first I did not realize you were not involved with this idea, and for that I apologize, Mara. But you must understand that Aves did not tell you because he was afraid you would be offended by an offer of outside help, yet he could see the company would not survive the way things were going. I believe he thought you would be more accepting of the deal if the details were already worked out.

"At any rate, I was more than happy to accept the offer. However, I found myself rather indisposed when first contacted. You see, retirement did not sit well with me. I stumbled upon a bit of information, and having nothing but time on my hands, I rather foolishly decided to do a bit of investigation. The intricacies of what happened are a story for a different day, but suffice it to say I found myself deep in the Unknown Regions confronted by an enemy I though was long since vanquished.

"I had told Aves just enough to cause him great concern when I did not respond to his comms. Fortunately for me, NRI had some of the same information I did and found me during their own investigations. If not for their intervention, I would not be here before you today. Because of that debt I agreed to help them."

"If I may?" one of the NRI officials stood, looking pointedly at Karrde. With a hint of reluctance, Karrde handed over the floor, taking a seat at the end of the table. The NRI official stared critically at Mara, as though not sure he wanted to be speaking to her. After a moment, he tapped the controls embedded in the table and a star map displayed over the surface of the table. He indicated various points on the map as he spoke.

"As we all know, the galaxy has been threatened by three separate invaders in the last fifty years. The Ssi-Ruuk, the Vagaari, and the Yuuzhan Vong. Fortunately, all these invaders have been turned back, and the galaxy we know remains free from their oppression. The last thing this galaxy can afford, especially considering the current state of civil unrest, is a resurgence of any of these extra-galactic threats.

"Republic Intelligence has, since the day each of these invaders was defeated, been monitoring for any hints of resurgence. A few weeks ago, we got our first pings, indications that the Ssi-Ruuk were beginning to test the borders. Within days we had similar pings for the Vagaari and the Vong. We could only hope that this was a mistake, surely you can imagine that a three-way invasion would leave the galaxy in tatters. As we searched for more information—which is where we came across Talon Karrde—we became confident that this was no mistake and no coincidence. Not only do all three invaders appear to be preparing for attack, there is evidence that they are working together to plan that attack.

"This situation is absolutely unacceptable." The official pounded the table with his fist and stared hard at Mara. "This is where you come in."

"Our analysts have determined that our best, and perhaps our only, shot against this threat is to unravel the alliance. If we can get the invaders to fight themselves, they may wipe each other out, or at least reduce the numbers remaining to antagonize our galaxy. Turning the invaders against each other will require a series of precise, carefully orchestrated assaults. We are in the process of forming a few elite teams to carry out these strikes. Talon Karrde has insisted that we will find no one better suited to this task than you, Mara Jade. We need the first strike team to leave immediately."

Shutting down the starmap, the official once again stared critically at Mara. He seemed to expect a response, but Mara simply stared at the wall beyond him. She found it extremely difficult to care about extra-galactic threats and precision assaults when members of her crew were in critical condition. She'd followed the explanations just enough to see that there wasn't really a choice to make.

Perhaps intending to fill the silence while Mara made up her mind, Mirax stood and began to speak. "If you accept this mission, you would of course be given the ship and the crew of your choosing. I then propose that the remains of your company would be integrated into mine. All your current employees would be offered similar positions within my company.

"Regardless of your decision, I have already offered Aves the position of liaison between my company, NRI, and the strike teams."

Mara looked to Aves, who offered her a small smile and a slight shrug. It sounded like a perfect job for him; he'd be a fool not to take it.

Then she turned to Luke. She had felt the reverberations of his conversation with Corran and was surprised at how calm and confident he seemed.

A day ago he had asked her to join him as he walked away from all he knew. When he had asked they had both been seeking to escape from the past.

Now she was about to ask him the same question. But this time, instead of fighting against the past, they would be fighting for the future.

* * *

A week later and deeper into the Unknown Regions than he'd ever been before, Luke strode down the main corridor of _Incident Alley_. The ship positively shone all around him with gleaming panels and bright lights. Although he hadn't taken much note of what the ship looked like when he'd first started travelling in it, he knew it had been battered and in need of sundry repairs. Now it was in top working order, appearing brand new. Mirax and the NRI had really outdone themselves, turning the vessel into a perfect cutting-edge machine in only a few days. The ship was ready to go as soon as the crew was released from the medical ward.

Luke entered the common area was happy to see the entire crew was present. Mara entered from across the room just as Luke arrived. Odonnl looked up from a datapad and nodded a greeting at Luke. Luke was pleased to note the swelling around his eye was almost gone—he'd be good as new in no time.

Pormfil and H'sishi were playing dejarik in the corner. Dankin was stretched out, dozing on the couch with two whisperkits curled beside him. Mara gently shook him awake as she passed by. Benji and Ghent were at the table, playing a computer game. Faughn sat on the couch across form Dankin, studying a stack of flimsies.

Fingering a data chip, Luke announced, "I have something I'd like to show. Everyone is welcome to view it."

"What is it?" Benji asked, eagerly taking a seat in front of the holoprojector.

"It's my last act as Jedi Grand Master. I gave a copy to Corran. He should be playing it at the High Council meeting any time now." Although clearly uncertain what to expect, the rest of the crew gathered around as Luke started the projector. Luke was glad for their interest. Whether they were Jedi or not, he wanted an audience. He needed Benji to know how serious he was.

Luke's image appeared and began to speak. He hadn't known how to properly introduce what he had needed to say, so he had cut right to the point. "The Jedi Order, under my guidance, has become very rigid. The rules are strict and the punishment for testing those rules is harsh. Because of these rules, many people, many capable, Force-sensitive individuals with a variety of skills to offer, have been turned away from the Order.

"There were reasons for these rules, reasons I felt were righteous at the time. But now, on the dawn of a new day, I see vividly the mistakes I have made. And there are many. I regret that I have caused many to follow me in my folly, and that those who have not followed have often suffered as a result.

"But I do not speak to you today to outline every past misstep. There is not time enough to list them all. Instead I approach you with one recommendation, one request for the future.

"I propose to introduce a new class of Jedi. To be known as Jedi Paladin, this class will be roughly parallel to Jedi Knight. Jedi Paladins are those Force-sensitives with unique gifts, skills not common among Jedi Knights. Jedi Paladins have varying levels of connection to the Force, some may have only the faintest attunement. But each of these Paladins is a valuable asset to the Jedi Order, an asset that has been largely overlooked before now. Jedi Paladins are scientists, diplomats, slicers, mechanics, doctors, and engineers.

"Jedi Paladins will not be strictly beholden to the Council and its official missions, but rather are allowed and encouraged to seek pursuits beyond the purview of the Order. Paladins will spread the Jedi message of compassion and peace to all corners of the galaxy.

"It is my hope that the introduction of Jedi Paladins will make the Order more accessible to more people, so that more gifted individuals will be able to commit themselves to the service of others.

"Thank you for your consideration, and your service." The small image of Luke gave a final bow to the camera.

Luke shut off the projector and turned to his son. Benji's eyes shone with excitement, and he radiated an eagerness Luke had never before seen his son show for anything Jedi-related. "Dad, can I be a Paladin?" he asked.

"Of course," Luke replied, hugging Benji tightly. "You can be anything you want." For a moment he fought back tears, wondering why it had taken him so long to make even this small connection to his son. Luke loosened his embrace, his hands coming to rest gently on his son's shoulders as he continued. "I'm serious. You don't have to be a Paladin. You don't have to be a Jedi Knight. You don't have to be a Jedi at all. From now on, Benji, all I want you to be is happy."

Mara set a gentle hand on Luke's back as he released Benji. "You did good," she said softly.

"You know, I wasn't just talking about Benji," Luke murmured as his son, still smiling, returned to his computer game.

"I know," Mara replied.


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

_"__Did you check the calculations?" Dankin asked. _

_"Checked and double-checked," Benji replied._

_"__Good. But since we're in alien territory we're going to triple-check." _

_"Yes, sir," Benji said, obediently bringing up the calculations._

_Dankin scanned the numbers and nodded his approval. "Then we're ready. Go ahead."_

_Benji pulled the hyperspace lever with a grin on his face. It was the first time Benji had done the entire course check himself. Dankin was there, providing guidance every step of the way, but Benji was learning. Before long he would be able to fly the ship on his own._

_Watching from afar, Callista released a contented sigh. Benji had spent the morning working on calisthenics with Mara. And now that the course check was complete, he was on his way to assist Ghent in calibrating the new ultra-long range comm unit with the ship's main computer. After the trouble they'd had finding a master to train Benji, it was indescribably wonderful to see that now there was a ship full of people eager to share their knowledge with him._

_Callista took a final look at her beloved Luke. She'd fallen in love with him all over again in the last __few weeks. He truly possessed the most beautiful soul in the galaxy. He'd given a piece of it to her, and it was time she gave it back._

_With joy in her heart, knowing the future was bright for her husband and her son, Callista let go. She released her connection to the physical world._

_Gradually her spirit faded, until she was nothing but the Force. _

_And the Force was her._


End file.
